The Lost Star's Sea

by C. Litka

05

  The third stage ended deep in the hills and forests of a major fissure known as the Opaphar Chasm. The long ridges of this chasm region were clothed in the same massive pine trees I'd seen on Daeri. Long Street, deep in the shadows of this green and maroon forest, climbed and then descended these hills and narrow farming valleys in long, steep zigzags. And though the pedal-men seemed tireless, it took us almost two rounds to reached the Opaphar Chasm itself.

  We had pulled off Long Street near the cliff's edge to allow a long caravan of wagons to cross the spidery iron bridge from the other side. The bridge was built chain-like, with the iron road sections loosely connected together, so it bounced and swayed under heavy traffic, and in a strong wind. And while it was wide enough for two way traffic, CarVori decided it would be a more comfortable passage to wait for the caravan to clear the bridge before proceeding.

  We were all standing on the edge of the chasm looking down the fissure that plunged deep enough to fade into a black shadow.

  'Is that a river at the bottom?' asked Naylea.

  I cold see the narrow silver line that reflected the sky that she referred to - perhaps a kilometer below us.

  'It's actually a lake,' replied CarVori. 'that runs the length of the Opaphar. It is said to have many strange fish, though I don't care to try my luck beyond the pale trout that the lake is famous for.'

  'It's a very narrow lake. I suppose that it must also be very deep,' Trin remarked.

  'No, it's actually very wide. It only looks narrow because you're looking at it from the side,' replied CarVori.

  'I don't think I'm following you.'

  'Oh, we must visit it. I will take you. We can walk to it in an hour.'

  'Walk to it?' Naylea asked. 'You mean climb down.'

  He shook his head no. 'No, walk. There are trails. But, of course, not on this side, but on the other side, the down side.'

  We all gave him a questioning look. 'The down side?'

  'Have you not seen chasm kite fliers? No? I see I must explain. Because this chasm is so remote, there are no kite-fliers, but attaching oneself to a set of wings and jumping off the up side of a cliff is a popular sport. If you jumped off here, you'd fall towards that other side, not down the chasm. And if you had a set of wings, you could sail and soar all the way to the far side, ending up on the opposite side of the chasm. The chasms nearer the cities are popular with such kite fliers. This is a pretty narrow chasm, at this point, so I bet that if I attached the flaps of my oiled raincoat to my feet and spread my arms wide, I could use it to soar safely to the other side without breaking my neck.'

  Ah, yes, Windvera's strange gravity...

  'As for the lake, the lake bottom is actually the far side of the chasm, and stretches away from us, so it only looks narrow. It is much broader than it looks, stretching away for many leagues until the fissure closes. It is very dark on the far end of the lake. There are boats you can rent, so if you like, we can spend a few hours exploring the lake after we sleep.'

  'That's weird,' I said.

  'I suppose that it may seem strange if you're not used to Windvera's ways. I know that the small islands do not hold you down at all.'

  'And on the fatter, big islands, down is always in the same direction,' I added.

  'How boring!' he laughed. 'Here the direction you fall off a cliff tells you where you are! Look across the way. Do you see how the bridge supports are set on the cliff itself? On that side of the chasm, the bridge is more of a tower than a bridge. Those supports bear much of the weight of the bridge.'

  As I mentioned, I'm not an expert on non-spherical gravity. Perhaps if I was a drifteer prospector, I'd know more about it. But I guess it made sense that the opposite chasm wall, at a right angle to the island's center of gravity would be the local down. If Windvera's gravity was more significant than it is, we'd likely feel that we were traveling downhill the whole way to Marsh Waters.

  Slight gravity or not, I was glad CarVori elected to wait out the caravan, as the bridge itself proved to be a very spidery affair, little more than a massive iron chain overlaid with planking and secured by cables from every angle to keep it relatively steady in the light gravity and winds. I still could feel it swaying slightly as we crossed in solo.