“…the towering spire crumbled like frail pottery across the landscape. The only remaining piece came to rest high in the foothills to the north.”
The Story of the Last Day
Following her training, Kaya took a dozen quick steps and scurried up the curved rock face. With her out of the way, the Travelers were free to proceed.
Connor stared into the night trying to see what he had only imagined.
“What is it? What can you see?”
“It’s too dark, I can’t see anything yet.”
“Are you still gonna do it?”
Connor took a deep breath and let it out.
“Yeah, I’m gonna do it.”
He took another deep breath, then stepped with his good foot first, leading the way into the darkness.
Making their way down the sloping pathway, they approached the edge of a cliff. To their right was a colossal boulder, bigger than a house. On their left was the sheer wall of the mountain and straight ahead was something that would have been impossible to comprehend even in broad daylight.
The tips of their shoes stopped at the edge of a three-foot gap. On the other side of the gap, sticking straight out from the cliff face and protruding into the empty darkness was the final three hundred feet of the fallen spire. With no visible support, it appeared to float in mid-air.
“What’s holding it up?” Andrew asked.
“This is weird,” Connor replied. “I didn’t expect it to look like this at all.”
“Mr. Miller said we had to ‘drop in’ after we walked out onto it.”
Taking a couple of steps backward, Connor said, “I’m just glad it’s even with the path. Follow me.” He moved forward in a little run, jumping the gap between the spire and the cliff.
Kaya watched them, wondering what it would be like.
Andrew followed Connor’s example, and they walked together along the broken section of the tower. Connor motioned to their left, and said, “There isn’t anything on this side except a long drop, so be careful.”
They explored the length of the spire until they came almost to the end where there had been a major collapse in the wall.
“This doesn’t feel very safe Andrew. I don’t think this is the right way in.”
“Me neither. I think we should go back to the other end and try to get in from there. I think that’s where we have to jump down to get you in.”
The night wind picked up, rocking the spire back and forth. They put their arms out to steady themselves.
“Whoa! I don’t like this at all,” Connor said, struggling to keep his balance. “We should go back.”
Placing his hand on Connor’s back, Andrew steadied him, saying, “There’s no way forward. Come on, let’s go back and see if we can find the way in.”
Connor nodded repeatedly, and they made their way back down the spire until they were about fifty feet from the edge of the cliff.
Connor got down on his hands and knees where the side of the wall had broken away.
“Well?” Andrew asked standing next to him.
“It’s not that far.”
Andrew knelt down next to him, then got on his belly with his head sticking out over the edge.
He pointed directly below them, and said, “I think the trick is to miss the stone posts and land on the inside of the wall just under where we are now.”
Pointing up the hollow shaft, Connor said, “Those posts, they must have been the balusters holding up the handrail to the stairs.”
“Look even further, you must be right,” Andrew said, pointing in the same direction. “They run up the entire side as far as I can see. I wouldn’t try jumping onto them, there’s no telling how sturdy they are.”
Connor nodded, and asked, “Do you hear the water?”
“I do. Where do you think it’s coming from?”
“It doesn’t make any sense, especially since we’re just dangling out over a huge cliff.”
“Then where does it start?” Andrew asked.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Andrew stood up unexpectedly and walked back down the spire toward the pathway.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Hold on, I just want to check something.”
Andrew picked up a fist-sized rock from the path and came back next to Connor. He got down on his stomach and threw the rock out into the darkness.
“Count until it hits the bottom.”
They both counted silently, but they never heard it hit bottom.
“Don’t miss the ledge,” Andrew advised.
“I guess not! Maybe I’m glad it’s dark out.”
“Can you feel the edge of the stone under your hands?” Andrew asked.
“Yeah, it’s got a bit of a lip to it. Let’s see what we can do about getting down there, shall we.”
They stood up and took off their small food packs and their waterskins.
“Should we throw them down on the ledge just in case?” Andrew asked, not trying to sound like anything bad might happen, but still trying to be cautious.
“You can if you want,” Connor replied. “I’m going to leave mine right here.”
Andrew didn’t want to seem pessimistic, so he set his items down too.
“It’s not like we’re the first ones to ever do this,” Connor said, looking at Andrew. “I’m just gonna go for it.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks, I hope I don’t need it.”
Connor eased his way over to the ledge and put his back to the darkness with his toes at the very edge. He bent his knees and took a little hop backward, catching the lip of the stone with his fingertips. He swung twice and let go, landing well behind the stone posts.
Andrew gave Connor a couple of seconds to move out of the way, then he repeated the action. The inside of the tower echoed with the sound of his feet hitting the floor.
“Good job missing the posts.”
“Thanks. You too,” Andrew said, brushing off his hands. The missing wall let in the faint light from the outside world. It was just enough to see by.
“Are you nervous?”
“I’m a little nervous,” Connor admitted.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to think about that right now. Besides, Mr. Miller is down there waiting for you. He’s got your back.”
“Where do you think I’m supposed to go?”
“I think the Chamber is at the very end.”
“Let’s go find out,” Connor said in a rather brave voice.
With one hand running along the smooth wall, they cautiously made their way down the inside of the huge spire. They had to step over shadowy piles of debris and avoid the broken pieces of stairway and baluster littering the inside of the cylinder.
“Look at that,” Andrew said when they were almost to the end. “The whole other side is missing!”
“I know it is. It’s missing from here all the way up to the doorway,” Connor said in a hushed tone.
“You can see it? Can we get to it?”
“It’s just up ahead, but it’s all the way to the left. I think it must be right on the edge.”
“Look up,” Andrew said.
“Wow, half the roof is gone too. I wish we could have dropped in from there, but it looks way too steep. Would you just look at all those stars?”
Staring up at a million, million stars, neither of them felt the urge to hurry toward the open doorway at the end of the spire.
Kaya had moved to a new position almost directly above the Travelers. When the Hero stood before the Light, this was where her teacher told her she would have the best view. She waited anxiously listening to their voices echoing out of the hollow tower.
Finally, in a calm, confident voice, Connor said, “I’m ready.”
“You know this is worth it. I wish I were going in first, but it looks like it’s up to you.” He held out his hand, and said, “Good luck.”
Connor knocked Andrew’s hand aside and hugged him tightly. “I don’t need luck. This is meant to happen, you’ll see.”
They both slapped each other on the back and by the time they let go, Andrew knew he would see his best friend again.
“Watch out for those stone posts. Don’t let your foot get caught in them.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
Connor made his way over to the exposed side of the spire where short, thick pieces of the old baluster had come to rest. They jutted precariously over the broken ledge while giant hunks of broken, jumbled stairs led to the crooked doorway.
Focusing on his oddly tilted objective, Connor crouched and hopped forward. He avoided the stone posts and landed on a badly tilting piece of the stair.
The wind blew ominously against the spire making it rock from side to side. Connor wobbled, struggling to keep his balance.
Watching helplessly, Andrew held his breath as Connor stepped up and to his left. Teetering dangerously on the edge, he shifted his feet and used the momentum of the rocking spire to reach his hand inside the doorway.
The wind disappeared as quickly as it arrived and the spire shifted unexpectedly. Connor rocked back on his heels and barely managed to grab the inside of the doorframe.
Andrew breathed a sigh of relief as Connor pulled himself toward the opening and hopped in.
“Say hi to Celeste for me.”
Connor poked his head back through the doorway, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I will. See you in a minute.” Then he disappeared into the Chamber.
Kaya heard all this and couldn’t believe her ears. “Say hi to Celeste?!” Nobody was supposed to know her name except the people of the village. How in the world did this man know who Celeste was? While she was feverishly trying to figure out how any Traveler could know this, a blinding blue-white Light shot from the window in front of her. Half-startled by the incredibly brilliant Light and half-blinded by it, Kaya took a step to her left.
Andrew moved closer to try to see inside, but just when he looked into the doorway, he was blinded.
In the brilliant flash of Light, Kaya completely lost her night vision and her footing. Slipping sideways, she screamed and landed hard on her hip. Gravity took over, and she clawed desperately at the smooth stone. Her legs slipped over the edge of the broken ceiling, rotating her body as she fell into the spire below.
Andrew heard a scream, but it wasn’t from Connor. It sounded like a woman. Then he heard something sliding over rock, and little pebbles started showering down on him. When he looked up through the opening, all the stars had vanished.
“Help me!” Kaya screamed.
She tried to protect Andrew by pushing him out of the way with her feet and tipped herself sideways. She came down hard, smashing her head and shoulder against the stone balusters and knocking herself out cold.
Andrew flew backward and felt the air leave his chest just before the back of his head bounced off the wall. With the wind knocked out of him, he fell to his knees.
Kaya’s legs hung off the edge of the spire pulling her away from her resting place, into the abyss below. Even with the Light from the Chamber, she looked like a lumpy shadow resting on the floor.
Dazed and confused, Andrew desperately tried to think of anything that fit the shape on the ground.
As she slowly slipped away, the fabric of her Shadow Cloak pulled back, revealing her small, delicate hand.
Instinct took over, and Andrew pushed off from the wall, lunging toward the tiny hand. Just before it fell between the stone posts, he grabbed it.
He was still moving forward, and the weight of the shadow pulled him out and over the edge. His legs flailed around trying to find something, anything to hook onto. At the last second, he got the tip of his shoe on the inside of the Chamber door, but it wasn’t enough.
Holding tightly to the little hand, he started to fall. His left leg slipped between the posts, pulling the skin away from his knee and shin, then his ankle twisted and snapped. Kaya’s dead weight yanked against his shoulders, wedging his ankle deeper between the posts above.
The Chamber pulsed and flickered as they dangled above an endless sea of black.
He looked down to see the shadow fall away, revealing a slender figure.
“Are you all right?!” he yelled, shaking Kaya’s hand. Her arm moved back and forth, and her head rocked from side to side.
“Are you all right?!”
There were mumbles and a low groan, then her head slowly tilted back. The brilliant Light above illuminated the badly bruised, but stunning face of a young woman with deep brown eyes and long dark hair.
She squeezed Andrew’s hand and started struggling against him.
“Don’t do that,” he instructed. “We’re in a bit of a bad situation.”
“Where are we?” Kaya asked, sounding groggy and confused.
“First things first. You need to hold onto me as much as I’m holding on to you. Grab my wrist with your other hand, or you’re going to slip away.”
Andrew pulled Kaya up a couple of inches, she grabbed onto his wrist, and they both gripped much harder.
“Good, that’s better. Below us is a really long fall, and I’m pinned to the ledge above by what has to be a broken ankle.”
“That’s not what I had planned,” Kaya said, still sounding confused.
“Me neither.”
Kaya looked up at Andrew, and said, “I’m going to climb you and get back up there. Then I’ll figure out how to get you loose.”
“That’s a good plan. How can I help?”
“Just don’t move. I’m probably going to have to push and pull and I can’t guarantee it will feel very good.”
“You’re our guide, aren’t you?”
“I was. Lift me up so I can grab your armpits.”
Andrew’s arms were getting tired, but he had enough strength to lift her. When her hands were over his head, she reached with her left hand and grabbed at his armpit.
“This isn’t going to work. I can’t get a grip on you.”
“Can you reach my belt?”
“No.”
“You either have to grab something, or I have to put you back down.”
“I’m going to hug you around your chest. When I do, I’m going to need you to lace your fingers together. I need to step into your hands and push myself up. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
Kaya wrapped her left arm around Andrew’s chest, and said, “Ok, let go of my wrist.”
She got her other arm around Andrew just in time to keep herself from slipping off.
“Give me your foot,” Andrew shouted, just as the Light from the Chamber went out.
With their eyes re-adjusting to the black of night, Andrew fumbled around, and Kaya kneed him in the head a couple of times. When she finally got her foot into his hands, she was able to push herself up and grab his belt.
“Bend the knee on your free leg. I have to grab your foot.”
Andrew bent his knee, and she grabbed his foot, saying, “Now straighten your leg!”
Pushing his foot toward the sky, he raised her up and she put her foot in his crotch.
Andrew yelled as she got her fingers around the edge of the nearest post. Kaya got her knees over it and pulled herself up to the ledge.
“I made it.”
“Good! Do you have any rope?”
“I do. Hold on while I get it out of my pack.”
Fortunately, Kaya’s pack had not fallen off when her Shadow Cloak did. She took it off and quickly found her length of rope in the bottom of the pack. Tying a slipknot at the end, she looked down at Andrew’s ankle. It was too dark to see any coloration, but it was firmly lodged between two posts.
“I’m going to lower the rope to you, and you can put it around your chest.”
“Then what?” he asked.
“Then I can push your ankle out, and you can climb up.”
“What are you going to tie the rope to?”
“Oh. Um, I could tie it to one of the posts, but other than that…,” she said, quickly looking around, “other than that, there isn’t anything up here is there?”
“No, there isn’t.” Andrew hesitated, and said, “I don’t like it. What else can we do?”
Kaya didn’t like it either.
“I can lower the rope, and you can wrap it around your wrist. Then I can pull you up. You’ll be able to grab the edge of the posts like I did, and swing yourself up.”
Andrew thought about it as his leg went numb up to his hip. “I’m not sure I can. I’m facing the wrong way.”
“You should be fine if you come up sideways. When you’ve got a good grip, I’ll push your foot out, and you can climb up.”
“Any other ideas?” Andrew called up.
“That’s about all I’ve got. Plus a terrific headache.”
“Well, since I can’t feel my leg anymore I guess it’s the best option.”
Down came the rope with a small loop tied at the end. Andrew slid it over his hand and snugged it around his wrist. Gripping the rope with both hands, he said, “All right. I’m ready.”
Kaya pulled as Andrew attempted an upside down sit-up. He screamed in pain when his hands were a foot from the ledge and Kaya stopped pulling.
“Don’t stop now!” he cried.
Kaya bent her knees, grabbed the rope as low as she could and gave it one final pull. Andrew’s ankle made a horrible grinding noise.
His fingertips came up over the edge, and he yelled, “Get my ankle out of there!”
“Don’t pass out when I do this.”
“Tie off the rope, just in case!”
Kaya got to her hands and knees and quickly tied off the rope. If Andrew let go and the stone pillar didn’t give way, he would be dangling from his wrist. It was better than nothing.
“We’ve got to hurry. I can’t do this much longer.”
Moving to her right, she put the palm of her hand against the side of his foot and counted to three.
Andrew screamed as his foot scraped across the stone.
His mangled leg dropped down, and while he still had the strength to move, he pulled his good leg up to the ledge. Sweat poured off him as he struggled to shift his weight up and over to safety.
Without hesitating, Kaya put her weight on the end of the posts and reached between them, grabbing Andrew’s belt. In one quick movement, she rocked her weight back pulling up, and shouting, “Get up here!”
Andrew pulled with all his strength, then he flopped up onto the railing, and she quickly hauled him away from the edge.
Staring up through the hole in the ceiling Andrew said between gasps, “That was pretty good.”
“Thanks. I use to do that to my little brother when he couldn’t climb onto the top bunk.”
“I’m just glad it worked.”
His leg had gone from numb to on fire. He sat up, looking at his ankle when he came face to face with Kaya. It was dark, but not too dark to see the giant bruised lump on the side of her head, but it wasn’t the bruise he was staring at.
“How bad does it look?” she asked.
“How bad does what look? Oh, I’m sorry, your bruise is beautiful. I mean your head is beautiful, aaahh! I mean the bruise on your head is big, but it didn’t break the skin. How does it feel?”
Kaya’s cheeks flushed, and she was glad it was dark. “I can’t touch it, and it’s basically on fire.”
“Yeah, my leg was better off when I couldn’t feel it. Do you see Connor anywhere?”
She looked around, but she knew they would have known if he had made it out of the Chamber. “I’m sorry. I don’t think he made it out.”
Grunting and groaning, Andrew lifted his leg the best he could and turned around to look at the doorway.
“Connor!!” he yelled.
The sound echoed into the night. He got a wild look in his eyes, and pleaded, “Help me up. Help me stand up! Please, I have to go over there!”
He made a weak attempt to get to his feet and fell back down. His swollen ankle hit the floor with a thud, and he screamed.
Kaya got to her feet, blocking the way. “You can’t go in there! If you so much as break the threshold of the doorway, you’re obligated to go all the way in and face the challenge.”
“I don’t care about that! Connor needs my help!”
Feeling sick to her stomach, she sat back down next to Andrew and put her hand on his shoulder, saying, “If he’s still in there you can’t help him. You know that, don’t you?”
Tears welled up in Andrew’s eyes, and Kaya couldn’t seem to help herself either. Lying back down, he was racked with sobs, and the tears flowed down his face onto the cold stone of the fallen spire. Kaya cried in silence with her back against the wall, wondering what had happened to Connor and how she had gotten into this situation.
She moved down to Andrew’s foot and could tell the swelling was getting out of control. She also noticed his ripped pants, and she could tell his knee was badly cut and bleeding onto the floor.
“I’ve got to get your shoe off and see if I can stop the bleeding on your knee.”
He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked into the darkness.
“How bad is it?”
“It’s not good. I think your ankle is broken, and your knee has a few deep cuts. I’ve got some first aid supplies if you’ll let me clean you up a bit.”
“All right, but go easy on the foot, will ya?”
She knew everything in her pack by touch and quickly had a small supply of bandages and ointment. She also had what was left of her water standing by.
“Your shoe needs to come off,” she said, trying to untie the leather laces, but the swelling had made them too tight. “I’ve got to cut it off,” she said, pulling out her small knife and making quick work of it.
Slipping off the shoe, she asked, “Did that help at all?”
“Not really,” he said, through clenched teeth. “It’s still on fire, maybe a little less fire, but definitely still on fire.”
“Well you won’t thank me for what comes next either,” she said, putting some of the ointment onto a bandage. She turned it over and put it on the deepest cuts around his knee. Andrew flinched as she applied pressure.
She was crouching over him when he said, “I didn’t even know you were up there. How did you slip?”
Kaya debated how much she should tell him, but given the circumstances she decided it wouldn’t hurt to share a little.
“I was standing there so I could see the Chamber light up. When I heard you and Connor talking about Celeste, it surprised me. Then I was blinded. It all happened so fast I don’t really know.”
“You surprised me too. I didn’t see you until you landed on me.”
“I tried to kick you out of the way so I didn’t land on you, but I guess that didn’t work out too well for either of us.”
Kaya reached into her pack and took out her last handful of glowing mushrooms.
“Here, put this under your head,” she said, offering her pack to Andrew.
He took it, lifted his head and slipped it under.
“Thank you.”
“I think I should be thanking you. I know I hit my head pretty hard, but how did I fall off?”
“Well you did kick me out of the way, right into the wall,” he said smiling at her, but she was looking down at his knee. “I didn’t really see you hit the ground because I was busy flying backward. When I looked up, you were hanging over the side. Honestly, I didn’t know it was you until your robe pulled back over your hand. I was surprised I caught you before you slipped all the way over the edge.
Luckily my foot got caught the way it did, or we both would have had a really long fall.”
“Thank you for saving me, Andrew. I’m embarrassed, but I’m really glad you were there to help me when I couldn’t help myself.”
She kept the pressure on his knee and worried until her stomach hurt.
With his head resting on her backpack Andrew asked, “What’s your name?”
“My name is Kaya.”
“You’re welcome, Kaya, I’m glad I could help you after all the help you’ve been to my friends and me.”
Kaya lifted the compress off his knee. “I think the bleeding has stopped. I’m going to let it rest for a while before I clean it up anymore. Would you mind if I put your feet on my legs? If I can elevate them, it might help the swelling.”
“If you think it will help, please go right ahead.”
She sat cross-legged next to his feet and gently lifted them into her lap. Andrew tried not to complain, but his breathing picked up until the pain settled back down.
“Why were you surprised when you heard us talking about Celeste?”
“Because it’s not something you’re supposed to know about. You’re a Traveler, and Travelers don’t know about those things.”
“I’m a what? I’m a Traveler?”
“Of course, you are. You’re a Traveler just as I am a Wanderer. Surely you know that. After all, you followed me here didn’t you?”
“I know you’re a Wanderer, but I never knew I was a Traveler?”
“For one who knows about Celeste, it’s difficult for me to believe you don’t know this. You are a Traveler, and I am a Wanderer it’s as simple as that.”
“Mr. Miller called you a Wanderer and a guide who would lead us to the Chamber. He never said we were Travelers, but I guess the name fits.”
“I am certainly not your “guide” just as this has not been a tour of the Wastelands. I wander. My people have always wandered. We find the Travelers and bring them to the Chamber. You are a Traveler, you seek the Kingdom, and you seek the Light.”
“When you put it like that, I have to agree with you. I am a Traveler.”
“Are you joking with me? Are you trying to be funny?”
“No, I’m not,” he said innocently. “Please don’t take it that way. I’ve never really thought about these titles before, but they make sense to me. You are a Wanderer, and I am a Traveler.”
“How do you know about Celeste?” Kaya asked.
“We have her diary. I’ve read it. It’s down at our base camp.”
It was too dark for him to see the look of shock on her face, but he could hear it in her voice when she asked, “Is it a large book with gold corners and letters of blue on the front?”
“That’s the one. Have you seen it in your dreams?”
Kaya’s tone gave away her surprise when she asked, “Andrew, how do you know this?”
“I know it because it was the same way for Connor and me. The closer you get to it the more it calls to you. Especially if you’re sensitive to it as we are. Mr. Miller says it’s because we have the bloodline of the Kingdom in us. We use to see it in our dreams all the time, but now I just dream about what’s in it instead of what it looks like.”
“And you have this book at your base camp?”
“Yes.”
There was a long silence, and Andrew tried to focus on his breathing instead of the pain radiating up his leg. Kaya felt her head. The lump had not improved, and her head felt lopsided. She was still sick to her stomach and every couple of minutes the room tilted and spun, making things worse. Thirty minutes later, she asked Andrew if she could set his feet down. She needed to stand up and stretch her legs.
He pulled the pack out from behind his head and offered it to her, saying, “Here, can you set it on this? It does feel better when it’s raised.”
“Of course.”
She took the pack and moved it under his foot. Pulling her hand away, she felt something on the bottom of his foot and ran her finger over it a few times.
“That tickles a little and hurts a lot.”
“Sorry, but there’s something on your foot,” she said, picking up the little glowing mushrooms.
It was too difficult to see from a sitting position, so she moved to her knees and bent over. Kaya gasped, and her hand flinched away, throwing the mushrooms everywhere. She shuffled away from him in a panic, and Andrew got scared.
“What is it, Kaya?! What’s wrong with my foot?!”
Andrew looked up and saw her hugging her knees to her chest. She wouldn’t look at him, and she kept mumbling to herself like she was delusional.
The words didn’t make sense, but she kept saying, “Touch the moon,” over and over.