The Pillars of Ponderay

by Lindsay Cummings

  “Fine, let’s get this over with then,” Hoyt said. “It’s no big deal.” He shoved past Albert and onto the bridge. He started walking across, slowly at first, then at a more normal pace. Before too long, he used his Speed Tile, and was safely on the other side of the bridge, standing on the second cliff, waving his hands like a champion.

  “I guess we should just do what he did,” Albert said.

  “Here goes nothing,” Slink said. He gave Birdie a sideways glance before stepping onto the bridge. She gave him a tiny smile back. After a few minutes’ time, Slink reached the other side without incident. Mo followed right after, and made it, too.

  “Statistically speaking, the more people we send across the bridge, the more likely it is that the rope will fray. And whoever is on it will go down,” Leroy explained.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, man,” Albert laughed.

  “I’ll go next,” Leroy said.

  He crossed like a snail, stopping every few seconds, looking back over his shoulder at Albert and Birdie. They cheered him on, and finally, nine minutes later, Leroy reached the other cliff.

  “All right, you go, Birdie. I’ll take up the rear,” Albert told her.

  Birdie took a few deep breaths, then straightened and looked at Albert with sheer determination in her eyes. “See you on the other side.”

  With that, she crossed, going at a faster speed than Leroy had. Birdie made it, and Albert relaxed. All his friends and teammates were safely across.

  Now it was only him left.

  He took a step onto the bridge, testing its strength. The boards creaked under his weight, and the rope swayed, causing him to feel a flutter of angry butterflies in his stomach.

  It’s just like the Pit Path, Albert told himself. Keep moving, and you’ll be there before you know it.

  For good measure, he pictured Hoyt’s Speed Tile in his mind. There was the familiar buzzing in his feet, and Albert took off, whizzing across the bridge.

  He was mere feet from the other side when he felt the gust of wind.

  Before Albert could do anything at all, the ropes behind him popped, rocking the entire bridge like an ocean wave.

  Then they snapped.

  “ALBERT!” Birdie and Leroy screamed together.

  Albert lost concentration, and the Speed symbol fizzled away. He was able to take a few steps, just before the falling bridge caught up to him.

  This was the end. He was too scared to think, too scared to grasp onto a Tile symbol in his mind.

  The bridge beneath his feet dropped. The CoreBow’s weight on Albert’s shoulders pulled him down. Just when Albert began to fall, a hand caught his wrist.

  Albert looked up, breathless.

  It was Slink!

  “Come on,” Slink said, groaning from the effort. “Climb.”

  With Leroy’s and Mo’s added strength, and a little last-minute Weightlessness help from Albert’s Master Tile, they managed to haul him onto the cliff.

  All four boys lay there on their backs, heaving for air. Albert almost let shock take him away, but he reminded himself that he was a Balance Keeper. And it was his task to help save the world right now. He had to stay in control, stay brave. He stood up, wiping down his sleek silver pants.

  Albert held out a hand to Slink. “Thanks. You were really something, man. I owe you for that one.”

  “No problem.” Slink shrugged, but his face broke into a glittering smile when Birdie pulled him into a hug.

  “You saved him!” she squealed. “Thank you!”

  Then she realized what she’d done, and backed away awkwardly. What is going on with her? Albert wondered.

  “It was nothing,” Slink said when Birdie pulled away. “Really, it was no big deal. Anyone would have done it.”

  Albert wasn’t so sure. It’s not like Hoyt had moved to help him.

  “Of course it was nothing for him,” Hoyt snarled from behind them. “Slink’s just a big bunch of muscles.”

  Slink looked down at his toes.

  “That wasn’t cool, Hoyt,” Mo said, crossing his arms. “What’s your problem?”

  Hoyt took a half step back. “I don’t have a problem.”

  Mo stepped closer. “Yes, you do. You’re taking it out on us because you’re upset about not being the only team here. Hydra made it too, and they destroyed us in the Pit last time. They’re good, Hoyt, and we are, too. Accept it.”

  Albert was shocked. Mo had always been a guy of few words, and he’d always seemed closer to Hoyt than Slink. But Mo had just proved to Albert that he wasn’t so bad after all.

  Hoyt clenched and unclenched his fists, but he said nothing.

  Leroy broke the silence when he pointed at Albert’s Counter and said, “We lost another hour from that.”

  He was right. It was at twelve now. Time was moving way too fast.

  Albert pulled his wrist away, then motioned for everyone to follow. “Let’s just keep moving toward the center. Hopefully we can make it there before dark. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to climb those Pillars in the pitch black.”

  Hoyt took the lead, as always, but this time he didn’t keep his head held high. Slink and Mo followed, farther back than they had before, falling into step beside Albert, Leroy, and Birdie.

  Slink was a big dude, at least a foot taller than Albert. Mo had a permanent scowl on his face. They both looked scary, but Albert was starting to think he’d been totally wrong about both boys. And if they weren’t so bad, maybe there was some good in Hoyt, too, deep, deep down. It had sure seemed like it last night, in the woods of Cedarfell.

  “You okay?” Leroy asked. “That was scary back there.”

  “Yeah,” Albert said as he kicked a red-brown rock. “I just lost my mind for a second. Fear got ahold of me. I could’ve used the Float symbol, or Anti-Grav, or something, but I just lost it.”

  “It’s okay.” Birdie patted Albert on the back. “Next time, you’ll be prepared.”

  Albert hoped his friends were right, because the Ten Pillars were coming up soon. And he couldn’t afford to screw up when it came to that.

  CHAPTER 24

  The Path of Pillars

  The six Balance Keepers walked for the next hour.

  Even with the special clothes Professor Asante had given them, everyone was trembling against the ice-cold wind.

  Every so often, they would stop. Leroy would scan the horizon, making sure they were still on course, using the Ten Pillars as their distant guide.

  “Angle seven degrees to the north,” Leroy would say, and when Albert, Birdie, Slink, Hoyt, and Mo stared at him like he was speaking Spanish, Leroy sighed and took the lead.

  Albert felt as if he were in a dream world. The constant red-brown color morphed into one big blur. Ponderay’s distant Silver Sea never seemed to get closer, no matter how far they walked.

  They crossed bridges like the first one, but they were smarter. Albert used his Master Tile, giving himself super strength. Together, from opposite ends, Albert and Slink held the fraying ropes.

  The wind couldn’t be controlled, but everyone held on, using their practiced skills from the Pit. No one fell.

  The journey into the heart of Ponderay was going smoothly, until they came to a cliff without a bridge—the start of the Path of Pillars. The canyon in front of them had hundreds of tiny pillars, miniature versions of the Ten Pillars, lined up in a row.

  Leroy stopped at the edge of the cliff. “Well, this reminds me of the Pit, and that’s not a good thing.”

  Hoyt peered over the edge. “We can make it across. We’ll just have to go slow.” He glanced at his chest. “I guess my Tile is useless right now.”

  Birdie cracked her knuckles. “We don’t need Tiles to get across. We’re Balance Keepers, and we’ve trained for challenges far worse than this.”

  “You’re right, Birdie,” Mo said. He stepped forward next to Hoyt. “But this is still going to be a challenge. The pillars aren’t standing at even
heights.”

  Albert looked back out at the chasm, and realized Mo was right. The pillars were probably too thin to comfortably jump and land on, just a foot or two in diameter. Some were three or four feet taller than the others, with four feet in between them.

  “Now the real fun begins,” Albert said, shivering.

  Just as he said it, there was a great splash from far below. Something dark blue rocketed into the sky, and Albert recognized it at once, just as the Hammerfin smashed its face onto one of the pillars. There was an earth-trembling BOOM!

  When the rubble cleared, Albert saw that the pillar had been obliterated into a bazillion pieces, and in its place was a too-large gap of nothing but air.

  “Oh, come on!” Hoyt yelled. “We’re supposed to put up with those things here?”

  “I thought they were only in the Silver Sea,” Birdie mused.

  “Incorrect,” Leroy said, pointing, as a dark fin flashed in the water far below. “Remember what they did in the Pit? The Hammerfins are supposed to destroy the smaller pillars, and let the Realm build new ones. It helps keep the Realm Balanced, sort of like natural tremors that are supposed to happen. The only problem is I don’t see a new pillar being made in its place.”

  “There’s not a new one,” Albert said. He thought hard, focusing on the Flight Vision symbol. His eyes started to itch, and when Albert’s Master Tile took control, his vision soared from his skull like it was on a bird’s wings. He zooooomed across the chasm and went down, down, down into the depths, until he was looking at the surface of the water. It shimmered like it was made of melted silver coins.

  Nothing sprouted, not even a tiny, pathetic little replacement pillar.

  “Yeah, nothing happening down there, guys. Must be a side effect of the Imbalance. But we can handle it.” Albert looked at Birdie and Leroy and gave them a thumbs-up. “Too bad we don’t have Jadar with us this time, huh?”

  Birdie sighed. “I promised him I’d bring back a souvenir.”

  “I have to admit, that ugly dragon-bird of yours would be able to help us here,” Hoyt said.

  “He’s a Guildacker, and I’ll take that as a compliment,” Birdie said.

  The more time they stood here talking, the closer the Counter got to hitting zero. Albert knew they needed to get across to the other side, but how?

  It was Hoyt who made the decision. “Stay here,” he said suddenly. His voice was determined and strong, and very different from how he usually spoke. “I’m going to fix this.”

  Before anyone could stop him, Hoyt turned and sprinted away from the group, disappearing in a cloud of dust in the direction they had just come from.

  “Where’s he going? Why’s he going back?” Birdie shouted.

  “We never know why Hoyt does what he does,” Slink said, shaking his head.

  Albert had to hand it to Hoyt. He was fast.

  In less than five minutes, Leroy stood up and pointed. “Look!”

  There was a cloud of dust coming back their way. Albert squinted, and before he knew it, Hoyt was racing toward them like he had just drunk a whole bunch of energy drinks. He had a big huge bundle of rope in his arms.

  Hoyt dropped the rope in front of them on the cliff, like a big coiled snake. He twirled a pocketknife in his fingers. “We’ll have to skip that bridge on the way back. Go ahead, thank me. I won’t mind.”

  “You destroyed our way back?” Birdie screeched.

  Hoyt waved a hand. “You got a better idea, Blondie?”

  Birdie kicked the cliff, spraying a few rocks over the edge. “No.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Hoyt said. “We’ll use the rope.” He shoved Mo, who, after a pointed glare at Hoyt, stooped down and started to uncoil the rope.

  “I really strongly dislike that guy,” Leroy grumbled to Albert.

  “You’re not alone in that,” Albert said, shivering as the wind picked up again, spraying red dust across the cliff. “But as much as I hate to admit it, I think Hoyt’s right. If we use the rope to create a sort of overhead handhold across the chasm, we can grab onto it for balance when we land on each pillar, and use it as a monkey bar to get between pillars where the gaps are too big to jump across.”

  “Either that,” Birdie said, tightening her ponytail so hard that she winced, “or we’ll all go overboard.”

  “Do you want me to tell you the odds of us dying, dudes?” Leroy asked.

  “No,” Albert and Birdie said together.

  They didn’t need to be told. They already knew the answer couldn’t be good.

  “If we tie this end of the rope here,” Leroy said, motioning to a large boulder nearby, “and then someone goes across and ties the rope around the top of that taller pillar on the other side, then we should be able to use it as we move along the uneven pillars.”

  “I like it,” Albert said. He stared at the scattering of pillars. “I’ll go first, and tie the rope. You guys cool with that?”

  No one objected, not even Hoyt.

  Slink stepped forward. “My dad is a fisherman in Florida,” he said. “I know how to tie knots.”

  He grabbed the rope with his big fingers, which were surprisingly nimble, and showed Albert how to tie the strongest type of knot. They looped the rope around the boulder, and then Albert practiced the knot a few times with the other end of the rope. When he’d mastered it, Slink nodded in approval.

  “You’re ready. Good luck,” he said. He helped loop the rope up several times so that it could hang over Albert’s shoulder.

  “You need to move fast, Albert,” Birdie said.

  “Before the Hammerfins destroy more pillars,” Leroy added.

  Albert nodded. “Well, here goes nothing.” He handed the CoreBow to Leroy. “Hang on to this for me.”

  Slink, Mo, Hoyt, Birdie, and Leroy stood on the edge of the chasm as Albert readied himself for the dangerous journey.

  Albert’s knees felt weak as he prepared himself to leap. The first pillar was only about three feet away, and was at even height with the cliff that Albert stood on now. It should be easy.

  Just don’t think about the drop.

  Albert bent his knees, took a deep breath, and leaped. He landed on the pillar with ease.

  “Yay, Albert!” Birdie cheered from behind him.

  So far, so good.

  “This isn’t so bad,” Albert said to himself. He leaped across more pillars, careful not to fall each time he landed. He’d made it halfway across when he got to the real trouble.

  The next pillar stood about two feet higher than the pillar Albert was on now. To make that leap, he’d have to put in some serious leg power. Plus, the second pillar looked thinner than this one. If Albert didn’t land right on the center of it, he could lose his footing and fall.

  “Take it slow,” Slink offered.

  “But not too slow,” Leroy added.

  Birdie clapped her hands. “You’ve got it, Albert.”

  And I have my Master Tile, Albert thought. He pictured the Jackalope symbol, which looked like a Jackalope’s outline. He imagined himself leaping high, but not too high, almost like the times he jumped over orange construction cones back in New York City.

  The wind whipped him in the face, and the cold seeped into the fibers of his silver suit.

  Just jump, Albert.

  He conjured up the jumping Jackalope symbol in his mind, and put all of his concentration into not losing the image. He made sure he had a good grip on the loose end of the rope. Then Albert leaped, about two feet upward and four feet forward. The Jackalope symbol gave him the boost he needed. Wind tugged at his hair as he crossed the gap, and for a second, he was afraid he wouldn’t make it. But Albert’s feet landed on the pillar. Behind him, everyone cheered.

  “One step closer!” Leroy shouted. “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and you’ll reach the other side!”

  The next pillar was trickier. Instead of higher, it was about a seven-foot drop, and even farther away. Albert would need to use Balance
and the Jackalope symbol for this one.

  He pictured the Balance symbol—a triangle with a sphere balanced perfectly on top. It was one that had become so familiar to him over the past two terms of training in the Pit and in the Realms. On top of that, he pictured the Jackalope symbol. He imagined the two symbols interlocking, becoming one.

  Without hesitation, Albert leaped.

  The drop was quick and terrifying, and he almost let go of the end of the rope. Albert’s heart went into his throat, and as he saw the silver river below, he wondered what it would be like, falling into it from this height, hundreds of feet up.

  He needn’t wonder, because the Jackalope symbol carried him across, and again, Albert landed. He wobbled, close to toppling overboard, but a quick thought of the Balance symbol, and suddenly Albert felt so balanced he could have done a twirl without falling off the tiny pillar.

  On and on he leaped, sometimes jumping higher, sometimes jumping lower, and once, which was incredibly tricky, Albert had to jump to a stray pillar that was far off to the right.

  As he leaped, he could hear everyone else shouting for him, rooting him on. Albert thought he even heard Hoyt’s voice in there, somewhere. It filled him with confidence and spurred him forward as Albert made it to the final pillar.

  This one was the tallest of the bunch, standing several feet higher than all the others. From up here, Albert felt incredibly small. The pillar was wide enough that Albert could at least stoop to one knee for a breather. He looked around at Ponderay, at all the red and brown shades, and the cliffs with their jagged edges that reminded Albert of gnashing teeth.

  To anyone else, Ponderay might have looked ugly, a dark and desolate place. Albert thought it was beautiful, though it wasn’t without fault. Ponderay held the kind of beauty that came with a warning, like a delicate rose hiding sharp thorns.

  Mess with me, Albert imagined Ponderay saying, and you might not leave with your life.

  He shook the thought away as his friends waved at him from the other side.

  “Tie the other end of the rope!” Slink shouted. His voice was nearly lost in the howling wind.