Read The Island on the Edge of Forever (The Epic of Aravinda Book 2) for Free Online Page B

forest canopy shrank below him. Above, he noticed patches of dark clouds heading his way. It would rain on Ashraya today. In the distance, he could see the radial pattern of Ashraya City and the observatory higher up atop a nearby ridge.
    It struck Zahn that he had never seen Avani from orbit before. He had thought about it when he’d first met Oonak, but since they had used the gate on the southern pole, there had been no way to go into orbit.
    As he gained altitude, he noticed that he could now see all ten islands of the Ashraya archipelago. Their intricate outlines had long been as familiar to him as the lines on the palm of his hand, but seeing them all at once filled him with awe.
    The archipelago continued to shrink, and he was reminded just how isolated the islands were amidst the vast expanse of ocean around them, stretching out like an infinite blue plane until the curve of the planet became visible. He watched as the last traces of blue left the sky, revealing an infinite starscape.
    He looked up and saw his sun, Kuvela-dipa, shining against the backdrop of stars. And below him, the entire planet seemed to radiate a light of its own, its distant continents skirting the edge of the planet’s disc. Perhaps he should visit them someday. Perhaps. He had trouble pulling his eyes away, but reminded himself that this was time-sensitive, after all. Right now, the mission took top priority.
    He pushed Navika harder.
    It was strange commanding the ship when it wouldn’t speak to him, but he had to leave the Avani system before they came after him. He imagined Yantrik with a look of disappointment on his face.
    Yet their speed was tremendous. The indicator just beyond the edge of his vision told him he was close. After a few seconds, he realized that he hadn’t chosen his destination yet, and searched the edges of his vision, where his speed was usually indicated. Normally, he would just picture his destination in his mind or speak it, but with Navika being so unresponsive, he didn’t feel good about trying that now. Last time he jumped without a destination, he ended up in the middle of nowhere.
    He searched his thoughts until he noticed a tiny row of dots on the lower edge of his vision. When he focused on them, the dots grew in size, becoming a list of suns, planets, and other objects. He scanned through this list until he found a lifeless, graphite moon.
    Behind him, he could hear the ship’s timespace drive begin to roar, and he took a deep breath. It was good to be back in the Ocean of Space.
    The stars around the ship became warped and unreal, as if parts of the galaxy were somehow melting away. The roar grew, and Zahn watched as the sapphire world faded away behind him.
    “If she thinks I’m blind, then I’ll just have to prove to her how much I can see.”
    In his mind, he counted down. “Three…” He hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “Two…” But they wouldn’t have let him carry out this plan anyway. And it was certain to work. “One…” It was beautiful, really. It was elegant.
    The roar resonated within his mind.
    This was the moment.
    Zahn saw the twisting vortex ahead of the ship, like a sphere of swirling stars, and when he dove in, a vision of pure radiance filled his mind.
     

     
    A flash. Darkness.
    Another flash. More darkness.
    In the early days, the way the ship jumped between spacetime and timespace disoriented Zahn, but now it had become almost invigorating for him to watch, like a strobing meditation with the galaxy itself. This meditation only lasted a few seconds before he was back in spacetime once more.
    Ahead, he could see a dim star in the distance, partially obscured by the curving silhouette of a massive object. He stared at it for a few moments before the ship overlaid markers and blue haloes around the most prominent objects, indicating that the expansive object was a gas giant surrounded by thousands of small asteroids.
    As the ship drifted forward, Zahn summoned the