Haladras

Thirteen

"Ferjar." Chief Orthunk repeated the word to himself like one who's between sleeping and has just woken from a disturbing dream. "No Landdweller has ever been permitted to ferjar. Not even in the days of Athylian, nor his father, when we had more dealings with the Outside."

Orthunk turned his back to the companions and paced toward his hut, his head bowed in thought. After several minutes, he stopped, still facing away from them.

"Which planet?" he asked quietly.

"Allega," replied Krom.

The old chief shook his head emphatically.

"Impossible...impossible," he replied, turning and pointing toward the tree-shrouded sky. "The stars will not allow it. You come too late in the season for Allega. Fenorra, yes. Not Allega."

Krom cast a thoughtful glance at Lasseter and the others before turning back to Orthunk. "If it must be so. You will grant this favor, then?"

The old chief nodded slowly.

They were led by the chief up one of the many spiral staircases that coiled around the trees like snakes. Orthunk's guards had returned the companions their things, which in their hasty and unexpected departure from camp had been left lying on the ground. Skylar looked down into the abyss of darkness below and wondered how high up they were. Hundreds of meters, perhaps. The thought made him shift closer to the tree, away from the edge of the stairs. Encumbered as he was by his pack and satchel, he would have little chance of catching himself should he lose his balance.

They ascended the stairs until they left the light of the city's torches below them and Skylar's legs began to tire. Still they climbed. At last they could scarcely go any higher. The slate gray sky began to emerge above them. They were coming to the top of the forest.

The staircase led them through a small opening in a platform sitting near the pinnacle of the tree. It was a much smaller platform than the one they had first been brought to, circular in shape. What remained of the tree's top pierced through the center of the platform like a tall dark man with a pointed cap.

"Only one may ferjar at a time," explained Orthunk. "A forewarning: the man whose soul possesses too much darkness cannot pass; for the light will destroy it and the man die."

The word ferjar, as yet, meant nothing to Skylar. Orthunk's initial reaction to Krom's mention of it had made Skylar uneasy. Now he felt utterly afraid.

The man whose soul possesses too much darkness... Skylar repeated Orthunk's words in his mind. What's going to happen?

Despite his apprehensions, Skylar remained silent as Orthunk continued to give further instructions.

"The first to go must stand there," he said, indicating a circle near the platform's center, "and look directly up into the heavens. Once you have found Naaros among the stars, fix your gaze upon it; free your mind and heart of earthly shackles; and you shall find yourself coursing through space on a beam of light."

"Coursing through space!" exclaimed Skylar involuntarily.

"Yes, little prince," said Orthunk. "What did you expect?"

"But that's impossible. We have no means of propulsion. Nor apparatus for breathing."

The chief laughed softly.

"Do not fear, little prince. You shall understand better than I can tell you. It is the nature of the light to reveal what is hidden."

This reassurance from Orthunk did little to convince Skylar that they weren't all mad. Not wanting to seem cowardly, however, he asked no more questions. The other companions looked as calm as the Haladrian desert on a breezeless morning.