Andrew knew he was in trouble. His ankle and his foot were broken at worst and useless at best. He was sitting in the dark with a delusional girl who called herself a Wanderer, and for all he knew Connor was dead or dying.
His mind raced to figure a way out, but in the end, there were only two options. He couldn’t assume Mr. Miller was still able to defend him from the Portal below, so going into the Chamber was death for sure. Anything would be safer. That left him with a long, painful descent to the base camp, assuming he could get out of the spire and back to the path. He knew his injury would quickly immobilize him, and if he let that happen, he was as good as dead.
“If these are my choices my decision is easy,” he thought. “I’ve got to go while I still have the strength to do it.”
He took his breaths like he was going to dive underwater. He held his fourth one, rolled over onto his chest and brought his forearms under him. It was agony, and he yelled through the pain, but he finally got to one foot and steadied himself against the wall.
“I’m leaving,” he said to Kaya. Cold sweat dripped down his face and back, and he tried not to pass out. “Can you help me get out of here?”
Kaya stood up and dusted herself off.
“You won’t make it down the mountain.”
“I won’t live very long if I stay here either. I’ve got to try.”
“What’s your plan?” Kaya asked.
“My plan,” he said, steadying himself, “My plan is to climb out of here if I can reach the edge where we came in. Then I was going to hop back to the river and soak my foot for a couple of days. I’ll see where I go from there.”
“I’m not supposed to get involved with this type of thing.”
“All I need you to do is help me up to the ledge, then I won’t ask for anything else. You can just wander away, and I’ll go hang out at the river until I can walk.”
Kaya thought about everything she’d been taught and everything she’d been told. She knew what she had to say, but as the words came out, she changed them.
“That sounds like something I can do. How can I help?”
“Can you come over here on my left side? I would like to put my arm around your shoulders. With your help, I should be able to make it down to the drop-in point.”
She barely even came up to Andrew’s chest, but she took his arm around her shoulders and wrapped her arm around his waist. It is hard to steady him as he hopped along on one leg. The length of the fallen spire was only a few hundred feet, but Andrew needed to stop at least four times to catch his breath and deal with the pain.
By the time they finally approached the end of the tunnel, the night sky had lightened. She helped him over to the ledge, and he looked up.
“It’s higher than I remember.”
“I have some rope, but it will be difficult to climb because it’s thin.”
“You mean the rope we used when you pulled me up?”
“That’s all I have.”
“You’re right. It’s too thin. I would have to knot it and use my feet to climb, and I don’t think we could anchor it well enough.”
“I’ve got to sit down, Kaya. Can you help me down against the wall please?”
Kaya was desperately trying to detach herself from these events. She wasn’t supposed to be here, none of this was acceptable. Not only had she been seen by a Traveler, but she'd also been saved by one and introduced herself! She had lost her Shadow Cloak, and now she was sitting deathwatch outside the Chamber.
She got him settled onto the floor, but he winced and bit his lip to keep from screaming on the way down.
“I don’t know what else I can do to help you, Andrew.”
Looking up, he said, “I think I’m beyond help right now. You know it’s not what I had expected. I really don’t think…,” his voice trailed off, and his eyes got very wide.
“You don’t think what?” Kaya asked.
Andrew couldn’t respond. He was stuck in the Light. It was all around him as though he had just opened the book and he was frozen in the moment. He relaxed, letting the messages and images come to him.
He saw himself standing in the spire under the hole in roof telling Connor to say hi to Celeste. Next, he watched as Kaya’s robed figure fell through the hole above him. Pain echoed through him as he hit the wall and fell to his knees.
Kaya’s little hand appeared from beneath her cloak just as he remembered and he watched himself make a rather spectacular leap. The whole thing was happening exactly as he remembered, then he saw it happen.
In his last second attempt to save himself, his foot hooked the inside of the doorway to the Chamber. He had broken the threshold. It was unmistakable and even though he saw it, he could hardly believe it.
The images melted away, and Andrew drifted in the Light. There was another flicker, and a new scene was set before him. He saw himself standing in front of the Chamber door perched on one foot. He looked out of the open side of the spire, out where he and Kaya had fallen just hours ago, and he saw the moon. The first slice of the waxing crescent moon was above the horizon. A cool breeze blew in, and he watched himself let go of the wall and hop into the Chamber. As he crossed over the threshold, Light poured out of it.
The Light surrounding Andrew faded. He felt the cool stone beneath his hands, the wall against his back and the stabbing pain shooting up his leg and into his hip.
“Do you care to explain what just happened?”
Andrew smiled, and he turned his smiling face up toward Kaya, and said, “I don’t think I can explain it to you. It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? You lost your train of thought and blacked out for a few minutes because of the pain. What’s so complicated about that?”
“I didn’t black out. You might even call it the opposite of black. I was in the Light.”
“In the Light? What does that mean?!”
Andrew still had a smile on his face, and it was obviously upsetting to Kaya.
“Are you trying to be funny? Are you joking with me?” he asked her.
“Andrew, what are you talking about? No, I’m not trying to be funny.”
“How can you know all about being a Wanderer and how to find the Travelers, but you don’t know anything about the Light?”
“I know about the Light. I know where it comes from, and I know why. That’s how I know you’re not making any sense.”
“I told you, it’s complicated.” The smile faded as first light made its entrance into the new day. “Why don’t you have a seat, Kaya? I’m not going anywhere, and there are a few things somebody should know.”
“You’re not making much sense right now. Do you know that?”
“It doesn’t matter Kaya. None of it matters anymore.”
She reached down and felt his forehead. There was no fever yet, but she was concerned about this sudden change. She didn’t know much about helping with broken body parts or how people reacted when their best friend died. She just tried to appease the Traveler in front of her the best she could.
“Since we’re not going anywhere let me put my pack back under your foot. It might help a little.”
Slipping off her backpack, she repositioned it under his foot and sat cross-legged off to his side.
“Can I hold your hands?” he asked.
Kaya hesitantly offered her hands, sighing with worry and regret as they came together.
“Don’t worry about me Kaya. I’m probably the luckiest Traveler you’ll ever meet.”
She dropped her head forward, trying to maintain her composure.
“The place I went to just now wasn’t a dark place. I was in the Light. It showed me what I couldn’t remember, what I would have rejected if I hadn’t been shown. I guess the best way to explain what happened is to tell you I had a dream.
In my dream, I saw myself save you from falling, but more importantly, I saw myself enter the Chamber. Well, I guess I didn’t exactly enter it, but I did stick my foot through the doorway. I broke the threshold, and now I’ve got one last thing to do. I have to finish this.”
“Andrew. You didn’t have a dream. Your eyes were wide open. You were in the middle of a sentence. I didn’t see any Light either.”
“Like I said, it’s complicated. Remember when I told you about Celeste’s diary.”
“Yes. You said the book was down at your base camp.”
“That’s right. I’ll never make it down there Kaya, and I have to imagine Mr. Miller did about as well as Connor. That means you have to take Celeste’s diary. After I teach you how to protect yourself, you can see what I mean about the Light.”
“I really don’t understand what you’re telling me Andrew.”
“I’m sorry. It’s possible I’m not making any sense at all right now. I’ll try to explain it again, all right?”
“Please do.”
“I’m not leaving here. I’m not going to try to make it to the river or down the mountain because I have to go back into the Chamber. I entered it when I saved you, and now it is my obligation to go in there and do whatever it is I’m supposed to do. And strangely enough, because of the Light, because of the dream, I can accept it.
Since I won’t be leaving this place, I’m asking you to take possession of Celeste’s diary and the magic shield. Mr. Miller has them at our base camp. Did that make sense?”
“It did.”
“Good. Thank you. I think your job as a Wanderer is done. I think you did a great job, too.”
“Andrew I’m not leaving you here to die alone, I can’t. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it doesn’t matter about being a Wanderer right now. I’m not interested in that. I’m only interested in doing what I can to help you.”
Andrew looked off into the reddish-orange glow of the morning sky. “You know, Kaya,” he said dreamily, “I wish I could have been the Hero. Not for myself, I just wanted everyone to come home.”
“What? What did you just say?”
“You told me you knew where the Light came from and why, but I wonder if that’s true.” Andrew pointed his finger at Kaya’s chest and touched a single finger to it between her breasts. “The Light is right here Kaya. It’s in all of us.”
Kaya clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes got wide, and a little scream slipped out from between her fingers.
“What is it? Have I upset you?”
She lowered her trembling hands to her lap, but they wouldn’t stop shaking. She fumbled for her waterskin and took a drink, spilling some down her chin.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands to Andrew’s face, placing one on each of his cheeks. Her forehead was furrowed, and she had an intense look of disbelief on her face. Without lowering her hands, they stared into each other’s eyes, and Kaya asked, “Andrew, do you know about the Wanderer’s Signs?”
“I can’t say I’ve heard of them. Are they called anything else?”
“No...Well maybe, I guess we usually just call them the Signs.”
She lowered her trembling hands into his without taking her eyes from his face.
“I’ve still never heard of them. Are they important?”
“A Wanderer only has two jobs, Andrew. Her first job is to lead the Travelers to the Chamber by the safest and quickest means possible. Her second job is to watch for the Signs.”
“I’m sure that’s harder than it sounds,” he said, squeezing her hands reassuringly and smiling. “Have you ever seen one of these Signs?”
“No, I haven’t, but this is the very first time I’ve ever wandered on my own. You and Connor are the first Travelers I’ve ever brought to the Chamber. And just in case you couldn’t tell, it’s not exactly going the way it’s supposed to.”
“I’m sorry. Things aren’t exactly working out the way I thought they would either.”
Kaya closed her eyes, trying to re-focus and to stop the dizzy spinning in her head. When she opened them, she said, “I feel like I’m doing everything wrong.”
Andrew just looked into her eyes without saying anything.
“The Signs aren’t the type of things you actually plan on seeing, it’s not even clear what they are, but there are clues we look for.”
“Why?”
“I think it’s because they’re only supposed to happen when...well nobody knows when and since nobody knows when or what the Signs are, all you get are a bunch of clues.”
“What are you supposed to do if you see a Sign?”
“You’re supposed to make a choice.”
“That’s not very helpful.”
“I know it’s not.”
“So what’s the problem? Why do you feel like you’re doing it wrong?”
“The thing is, lots of Wanderers claim to have seen a Sign or two, but in almost two thousand years nobody has ever seen them all. That’s what we’re all looking for, but it’s never happened.”
“Never?”
“Not until tonight.”
“Now you’re the one confusing me. I thought you just said you’ve never seen a Sign.”
“I did. I’m sorry. This is very exciting and very overwhelming. I’ve never seen a Sign before, but like I said, this is my first time wandering alone. And it’s my first time to the Chamber with Travelers. What I should have said is I’ve never seen a Sign until tonight, but now that I have, I’m confused.”
“Can I help?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think you’re supposed to.”
She took her hands back into her lap and balled them into fists. She stood up, looked down at Andrew and in a frustrated voice she said, “I’m not supposed to even be having this conversation, and I’m certainly not supposed to be telling you what the Signs are. None of this is right.”
She held her hand up to her bruised face and pulled it away.
“Maybe that’s a Sign.”
“No,” she said, still sounding frustrated. She walked away from Andrew with her fists by her sides. After a few paces, she came back and in a much calmer voice, she said, “The Signs are special. They’re supposed to lead the Wanderer to make a decision, to make a choice. But I don’t know what that choice is.” The frustration returned, and she yelled to the ceiling, “Aaaahh!! I don’t even know if I’ve seen the Signs!”
“Maybe it would help if you told me what the Signs are. I promise not to run down the mountain and tell anyone.”
She scrunched up her face and put her hands over her ears. “What am I supposed to do?!” she yelled.
Andrew looked up at her. When she took her hands away from her ears, and the echo faded, he said, “Just follow your heart, Kaya. Let your Light shine.”
Tears sprang into Kaya’s eyes. With a trembling lip, she turned to Andrew, and whispered, “What did you just say?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“That’s what my grandmother use to tell me every night when she tucked me in. Just follow your heart Kaya and let your Light shine.”
Andrew smiled at her, then winced as the pain shot up his leg.
She tried to wipe the tears away, but her face was so sore and bruised she could hardly touch her own cheek.
With her eyes closed, Kaya recited the Wanderer’s Signs as though she were speaking to her teacher, “The Signs a Wanderer must always look for may not be easy to find. You must use your eyes, you must use your heart, and you must close your eyes to see. Shadow falls face to face. Two and two make three. A waking dream recalls. Touch the moon. The answers are given. Three become two become one. The sky above reflects the valley below.”
She looked at Andrew as though she expected something.
“What? Was that it?”
“Yes, that was it! Do you realize no one outside of my village has ever heard those words?!”
“Thank you for sharing them with me,” Andrew said, not wanting to appear callous or ignorant.
“You’re welcome. I hope I don’t get in too much trouble.”
“Your secrets are safe with me. Look, you’ve obviously had a lot of time to think about this, and since I’ve had none, would you mind telling me what Signs you’ve seen? Maybe it will help you work things out.”
“All right,” she said hesitantly. “I hope this doesn’t sound silly, I’m not completely sure about them all.”
“Well just tell me what you’ve got and we’ll see.”
“The first one has always bothered me because the grammar is wrong and because shadows can’t actually fall into each other face to face, it would have to be face to back. At least that’s how I see it and like you said, I’ve had lots of time to think about it.
The cloak a Wanderer wears is called a Shadow Cloak. When I fell last night, and you caught me, my cloak fell off. When I looked up, we were face to face. Shadow falls face to face.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“It doesn’t sound silly?”
“Not really. I mean it does fit the Sign, and I can’t imagine that type of thing happens every day.”
“Good. The next one has been seen by lots of Wanderers at one point or another and what I saw fits, but oh never mind, here goes. When you wanted to walk over here, I helped you because your leg is obviously injured. I used my two legs, and you have two legs, but when we were together two and two made three.”
“I can see that. None of this seems silly. How long did you say you’ve been looking for the Signs?”
“About two thousand years.”
“And how many is the most anybody has seen before?”
“At one time?” Kaya asked.
“I guess. I mean you tell me. That’s the whole point isn’t it? To see if you can find them all pretty much at once?”
“Yeah, that’s the point. It’s an all or nothing kind of thing. The most Signs seen within a single wander, which is much longer than one day, is three.”
“I saw you touch the moon.”
“I certainly did,” she said, with a smile. “That’s your birthmark, isn’t it?”
“Sure is. Connor and I...,” The smile on his face went away, “That makes three. What else do you have?”
“The fourth one made me cry inside, and I tried to hold back when you said it, but you said it.”
“Is that why you got so excited? What did I say?”
“I really have a problem telling you about this, but I guess I can’t really stop now.”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to or if you shouldn’t.” Reaching up, he took her hands back into his.
Kaya squeezed them, then let go and stood up straight. She smiled at Andrew, and he wished he had a hundred more days to live.
“I’m following my heart on this one. You are definitely not supposed to know what I am going to tell you, but I have decided you are the first Traveler in two thousand years who needs to know.”
“I can hardly wait.”
“Do you know what happens when you walk through the doorway, Andrew?”
“Not really. I have a pretty good idea, but I’m certainly not willing to bet I’m right.”
“Well then, I’ll let you in on a very well-guarded secret. When you walk through the doorway, three questions will be asked. If you answer yours wrong, your outcome is inevitable.”
“What if I get them right?”
“Nobody really knows, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to find out tonight.”
“So you think I’m going to answer them correctly?”
“You already have.”
“I did? How could I have done that? You haven’t even told me what the questions are.”
“The fourth Sign is “The answers are given.” When you came back from your dream, you said them both. The first question you’ll be asked is “Why do you seek the Kingdom?” You were not asked the question, but you said you wished you were the Hero so everyone could come home.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice cracked when, she said, “The second question is “Where is the Light?”. You showed me and told me the correct answer.” She put a hand to her chest where Andrew had touched her, and the tears broke free.
“Those are very brave and true words. And they could only be spoken by someone who understands and loves the Kingdom as much as the people of my village.”
“What about the third question. You said there were three.”
“There are, but I don’t think you’re the one who has to answer the third question.”
“Oh, all right. I guess we’ll just leave that one out. You know what? You’re doing really well so far. I don’t see anything silly about your conclusions.”
“I’m starting to feel better about them myself,” she said, with a sniff and a little smile.
“The next one has never been seen by anyone, and it is the least spoken of. For you, it is going to be the most obvious one of all. A waking dream recalls.”
“You’re right, that is an easy one. I can still hardly believe I’m going to walk through that door with virtually no chance of survival. Of course, it’s good to know about the questions, but I think there’s more to it.”
When she finally sat down next to Andrew, they were looking into each other’s eyes, and she asked, “What did you see in your dream?”
“I think I told you already, but I’ll tell you again if you’d like?”
“Yes, please.”
Andrew went over the details again, this time talking through every detail he could recall. When he got to the crescent moon, Kaya said, “That’s it. Andrew, that’s it!”
“I must have missed it again. What’s it?”
“The last two Signs. I haven’t seen them because they haven’t happened yet.”
“Wow! If know when they’re going to happen, it would take you from five to all seven. What are the last two?”
“Three becomes two becomes one, and the sky above reflects the valley below. The sky above reflects the valley below is the easiest Sign to see because it happens every thirty days.”
“You’re going to have to help me on this one. I don’t get it.”
“The moon, you silly Traveler, the moon. Last night there was no moon, that’s why it was so dark. Tonight there will be a special moon. The first waxing crescent moon will appear for about two hours right after sunset. This moon is a reflection of the Valley of the Crescent Moon. None of the other moon phases are quite right. It’s always been the first light after the new moon.”
She stood again up and started pacing.
“What about the other one? Three becomes one…what did you say it was?”
“Three becomes two becomes one.”
“How does that happen?”
“That’s the part where I keep doubting myself.”
“Please stop doing that.”
“What if I’m wrong?” she asked, pacing back and forth.
“If you’re telling me you know how to make the last Sign happen, and you’re not willing to do it, you’re not following your heart! If you won’t listen to me, at least listen to your grandmother. Let your Light shine!”
Kaya kept pacing. Her forehead was as wrinkled as an old map.
“Kaya, how many of your rules have you broken tonight?”
“Almost all of them I think.”
The sun came up behind her turning the sky to a turquoise blue. Andrew watched her struggling to decide.
She walked all the way down to the Chamber door, looked inside, then came back and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.
“I’m ready,” she said.
“Great.”
“Three becomes two becomes one. Kaya, Connor, and Andrew were three, and we have become two. I’m leaving, Andrew. It’s the only way two can become one.”
“I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”
“If I’m right we’ll see each other again before the moon sets.”
“That would be nice, but don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Will you make me a promise, Andrew?”
“If I can.”
“Promise me you will not go into the Hero’s Chamber until the moon has touched the horizon, just before it sets?”
“I thought you said the sky above had to reflect the valley below.”
“I did. If the moon is still in the sky, it counts. And waiting until the last second gives me a chance, not a promise, but a chance. If you can wait until the last possible moment, I’ll do my very best to see you again.”
“If it makes you feel better,” he said, holding up his right hand with his palm facing out, “I promise.”
She knelt down, looking him square in the eyes, and said, “You have to give me time. The only way to do that is by waiting until it’s almost too late. You’ll be able to see the moon tonight just like you did in your dream. Can you hold out that long? Can you stay awake?”
“I promise.”
“Good. I’m counting on you, and I’m sorry, but I’m going to need this back,” she said, gently lifting his purple, swollen foot to remove her backpack.
Andrew flinched when she set his foot back down, then she kissed him. He was so surprised, he didn’t even have a chance to kiss back.
Kaya jumped up, put her backpack on and bounded up a pile of broken stairs right along the edge. When she reached the top of the stack, she jumped, twisting in midair like an acrobat. It would have been suicide, but her fingers caught the lip of the spire where Andrew and Connor had dropped in and she swung herself up and out.
A few seconds later, she poked her smiling face over the edge. Her long hair hung down, catching the sunlight.
“Here, you might want these,” she said, tossing down his and Connor’s waterskins and food rations.
“Don’t forget your promise.”
Then she was gone.