Heartlight

by T.A. Barron

  “Not a chance,” answered Ariella proudly. “I’ve had lots of practice entering the City at top speed.”

  “The City?”

  “You have just entered the outermost boundary of Nel Sauria City. It’s the capital of the planet Nel Sauria.”

  “And that ice wall—”

  “Is a barrier, of course. In ancient times, before all the families of snow crystals gathered together as one People, it was used for defense. Now it just protects the City against avalanches. Since Nel Sauria is a planet at peace, we don’t have any enemies to worry about.” She looked suddenly grave. “At least none who live on Nel Sauria.”

  A chill wind passed through Kate, but not from the snows surrounding them. She shook herself, as one waking from a nightmare, but she couldn’t completely banish the empty coldness that had suddenly touched her.

  Ariella spun over to her and lightly touched her hand. “So you too know the terror of The Darkness? I am sorry.”

  “Is that what you call it? It was horrible! It tried to kill me! I only escaped because of my friend Morpheus.”

  “Your friend is very brave,” said the snow crystal. “And you must be brave as well. Few have ever escaped from The Darkness, and none without a great battle.”

  “Our battle ended only because of the avalanche. I may have escaped, but in the process I lost my ring and Morpheus and my only hope of finding Grandfather. Now I’ll never find him!” She shook her head despondently. “What is The Darkness, anyway? What kind of thing is it? Where did it come from?”

  Ariella’s eyes brimmed with tears. “It came only recently to the realm of Trethoniel. And with it came the Great Trouble. That is all I know, but my mother knows more.”

  Kate sensed that Ariella was not telling her something. “Why does she know more?”

  A large tear rolled down the crystalline face. “Because The Darkness destroyed my father.”

  Kate knelt down to face the snow crystal. “I’m sorry,” she said, placing her cheek against Ariella’s smooth face.

  At length, they separated.

  “I have a gift for you,” said Ariella quietly. Using three arms, she swiftly dug a shallow cavity in the snow, then patted the interior until it was shaped like a smooth bowl.

  Holding two of her cup-shaped hands over the bowl, she clapped them together loudly. Instantly, a clear liquid began to pour from them, sparkling brightly as it cascaded down to form a glistening pool.

  “For you who have entered The Darkness and survived, I give you a few drops of the most cleansing substance in the universe. It is the pure essence of Trethoniel’s liquid crystals. On your planet, you might call it mountain spring water. But unlike water, it will not freeze. You may wash yourself with it if you choose … but remember, a little will go a long way.”

  Without hesitation, Kate thrust her hands and face into the cleansing liquid. It was cold and fresh and bracing, like the tarns of Scotland where she had gone swimming with Grandfather—but better. Instantly, she felt cleaner. And something more: As her body drank deeply of the essence, she felt somehow stronger, somehow fortified. She untied her braid and scrubbed her hair vigorously. Then she pulled off her sweatshirt and jeans and rinsed herself thoroughly. From top to bottom she rubbed in the sparkling liquid, including behind her ears and under her fingernails and toenails. Her entire self tingled, as though she had just stepped out of an old and withered layer of skin. Finally, she wrung out her clothes and rinsed them in the crystal essence.

  “It feels so good to be clean!” she exclaimed as she dressed herself again. “I’ve never needed a bath so badly in my life.”

  “It must have been horrible inside The Darkness,” said Ariella.

  Kate shook her loose hair like a wet dog and began to braid it. “I don’t even want to think about it again. It was … the worst.”

  “We’d better keep moving,” warned Ariella. “If The Darkness missed you once, it will be searching to find you again.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “That is its way,” answered the snow crystal gravely. “But there is one place where you will be safe, one place even The Darkness cannot enter.”

  “Where is that?”

  Ariella looked toward the far horizon and Kate’s eyes followed hers. There, in the center of a large plain, were the structures of Nel Sauria City: several mounds of snow forming a series of concentric circles. In the center of the innermost circle gleamed a gigantic dome of solid crystal, itself large enough to house a small city. The dome radiated a rich green color, much like the eye of Morpheus but even deeper.

  “What is that?”

  “That is the heart of the City—indeed, the heart of Nel Sauria—the ancient crystal dome we call Broé San Sauria. The secret of how it was made has been forgotten with time, and even the true meaning of its name was lost long ago. It is the most sacred spot on all of Nel Sauria. Most of the residents of the City live in the mounds you can see surrounding the dome, except for the Triangles, who prefer their nests upon the high ridges.”

  “And what happens in the green dome—Broé whatever-you-call-it?”

  Ariella’s eyes gleamed proudly. “Broé San Sauria is where the Nurse Crystals do their healing work, and where our young crystals are born. That is where we will find my mother.”

  Turning to Ariella, Kate asked: “Are you a Nurse Crystal?”

  The snow crystal laughed like the pealing of bells. “No,” she said, “although someday I hope to be one. My training has barely begun. A true Nurse Crystal has powers beyond anything you could imagine.”

  Kate studied the dome, glistening brightly in the distance. Broé San Sauria seemed totally protected and peaceful, a place where she could be truly safe, at last.

  Then her eyes fell to her hand, to the empty spot on her finger where the butterfly ring had once rested. Where was it now? Where was Morpheus? And, most importantly, where was Grandfather?

  “Let’s go,” said Ariella.

  Kate hesitated. “If I go with you, I’m sure I’ll be safe and warm …”

  “That’s right. But if you don’t come soon, The Darkness is sure to reappear.”

  Kate still didn’t budge.

  “What’s wrong, Kate? Are you afraid of something?”

  Her eyes lifted to the glistening white ridge rising in the distance. “If I go with you, I know I’ll be safe, but unless I find my ring soon … I know Grandfather’s out there someplace—trying to find a way to save the Sun—our star. He could be in serious trouble. The Darkness might attack him! I’ve got to warn him. I’ve got to find him. And the only way to do that is to find my ring first.”

  Ariella gave her a puzzled look. “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with taking a little time to rest before you go out searching for your ring? You’ve been through a lot.”

  “My ring has barely half its time left, that’s what’s wrong! I don’t know whether it keeps losing PCL—that’s its source of energy—even when it’s not on my hand … but I do know that Grandfather’s ring has even less time left. He might be out of PCL already, for all I know.” She touched one of Ariella’s arms. “I know The Darkness is out there someplace, but so is Grandfather. I can feel it.”

  “But you might never find your ring under all that snow!”

  Kate’s eyes roamed across the fields of white that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions, then returned to Ariella. “I’ve got to try.”

  Ariella spun still closer. “Are you really determined to do this? Broé San Sauria is so near.”

  “I wish I could be sure what’s the right thing to do. I’ve never been any good at making decisions. But I am sure of one thing. If Grandfather gets into trouble and I’m not there to help him, I’d never forgive myself.”

  “So you’re going to do this crazy thing?”

  “I guess so.”

  Ariella’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  “No,” declared Kate. “This is my problem.”


  “It’s mine, too. After all I went through to save you, do you think I’m about to let you go back out there alone and get yourself killed? And what success do you think you’ll have without a guide? You’ll probably walk right into another avalanche.”

  “What about The Darkness? I don’t want you to risk that.”

  “I guess I’ll just hope for the best.”

  Kate gazed into Ariella’s round eyes. “I may have lost everything else, but I think I’ve found a friend.”

  VIII

  Nimba’s Flight

  Scanning the enormity of the snowfields above them, Kate inhaled a deep breath of Nel Sauria’s frosty air. “Whewww,” she sighed, blowing a puff of mist.

  Suddenly, she realized the folly of her decision. “I forgot how far we came down! It’ll take so long just to get back up there. How can we possibly find my ring before Grandfather runs out of time?”

  “We could spin ourselves up there in no time,” suggested Ariella. She cartwheeled a short distance across the snow with amazing speed.

  “Are you kidding? That only works if you have six arms! For me, that’s as impossible as flying.”

  “You can’t fly either?” asked Ariella, her eyes open to their widest. “I’ve never met anyone who can’t either spin or fly. How do you get around on your home planet when you need to go someplace fast?”

  “Rings,” answered Kate grimly.

  “Oh, I see,” replied the snow crystal. Then she brightened and leaped high into the air above Kate. For a moment, she held herself aloft, twirling slowly, before floating back down. “If you can’t fly, maybe you can leap like this. It’s almost as good.”

  “I’m afraid not. My body’s just not built for it. I guess I’ll have to go one step at a time.”

  Kate glanced at the ridge of peaks rising high above the ice wall, swallowed hard, then started to stride off with determination. Without warning, she sunk to her thighs in the snow.

  “Hey! Oh, Ariella. This is terrible!” She tried to extract herself, but the more she struggled, the more deeply she found herself swallowed by soft snow. “Help me, Ariella!”

  The snow crystal spun to the edge of the expanding pit, stretched out four of her long arms, and tried to pull Kate free. The snow was now nearly up to her shoulders. Several times Ariella came close to retrieving her, only to have the soft snow break through again.

  A wave of fear shot through Kate, and her hands felt suddenly chilled. Am I going to be buried again?

  “Small steps!” commanded Ariella. “Move slowly and take small steps!”

  Kate forced herself to stay calm and to move in small, deliberate steps. Ariella was right; violent movement only made the situation worse. At last, with the crystal’s help, she reached a patch of denser snow. She crawled slowly out of the pit and collapsed, breathing heavily.

  “That’s worse than quicksand.”

  “It’s a soft spot,” said Ariella remorsefully. “I should have warned you.”

  “Yes, you should have. How did the snow get like that?”

  “I don’t know. It’s been warmer than usual recently, and soft spots are more common these days. So are avalanches. Some people think they’re all tied to the Great Trouble.”

  “Trouble is right!” exclaimed Kate as she rose to her feet. “I’ve got plenty. How am I ever going to find my ring if I can’t even take a step without falling in?”

  Ariella’s round eyes rolled skyward. “I have an idea.” She began rubbing several arms together rapidly, until the vibration created a shrill, high-pitched whistle. The sound pierced the air like the cry of an angered osprey.

  Kate put her hands over her ears. “What are you doing that for?”

  The crystal didn’t reply. She continued the vibrating motion and kept her eyes focused on one area of the sky.

  Kate looked up. All she could see were banks upon banks of heavy white clouds—until a slight edge of motion appeared. Then, what looked like a piece of the clouds, triangular in shape, grew more visible. It became bigger and bigger, until suddenly Kate realized that it was descending.

  The Triangle, which looked like a wing made of ice, coasted to a landing on the snow next to them. Ariella’s whistling ceased and she spun to the side of the large, flat crystal.

  “You called me for a good reason, I hope,” growled the flying wing. “I was in the middle of an updraft, one of the best I’ve found in ages.” His triangular eyes studied Kate suspiciously.

  “Yes, Nimba,” replied Ariella. “It’s a good reason. You know I never would use the distress call otherwise.”

  “Tell me your reason,” grumbled the Triangle, “and I’ll be the judge of whether it’s any good or not.”

  “My friend here has lost her ring.”

  “Her what?”

  “Her special ornament. It’s very important to her. She needs to search for it in the high snowfields.”

  The rumble of a distant avalanche echoed in the chilly air. Kate turned toward the daggerlike spires of the ridge. How far above the clouds they soared she could only guess; no mountains on Earth could match their majesty. As the roar of the avalanche reverberated among the peaks, it seemed to warn her to stay away, to forget about retrieving the ring. She had escaped once, by luck. Twice would require a miracle.

  Nimba’s eyes flashed angrily. “You dragged me out of the sky for some silly little ornament? Just because this alien says it’s important?”

  Kate gathered her courage and stepped forward. “It is important. And it’s not just an ornament. I need it to—to fly above the clouds. It’s my only hope of finding Grandfather. He’s somewhere out there—at least I think he is—searching for some way to help our Sun. He could be in trouble. And he’s going to run out of time very soon!”

  Nimba’s pointed face twisted sharply. “That is the most unbelievable tale of woe I’ve heard in years. No, decades! Ariella, you should be ashamed of yourself. Dragging me out of the sky with the distress call … And for what? For some incredible story told by an alien!”

  The Triangle shifted his stance in order to begin his takeoff. “That’s the last time any Triangle will heed your call, Ariella.”

  “But The Darkness is out there!” cried Kate. “It might attack Grandfather!”

  Nimba froze. “How do you know about The Darkness?”

  “She fought with it,” declared Ariella. “She escaped, but only because she got buried by an avalanche.”

  “That’s how I lost my ring,” added Kate.

  Nimba studied her closely. “The Darkness is the enemy of all living creatures. How do I know you’re telling the truth? That it’s not another one of your stories?”

  Kate pondered for a moment. “How would I even know The Darkness exists unless it had attacked me? It’s too horrible to make up.”

  Nimba cocked his head slightly. “That much is true. But how do I know you’re not one of its spies?”

  “Because I say she’s not!” exclaimed Ariella. Her round eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t you trust me, Nimba?”

  The triangular head turned from Kate to Ariella and back again. “I do trust you, Ariella. But there is much reason for extra caution these days. The Darkness has been growing steadily more powerful, and Nel Sauria remains one of the last strongholds of resistance left. Not without great cost … As you know, some of our bravest defenders have fallen to The Darkness.”

  Ariella bowed her face slightly.

  “All right,” he said at last. “I’m probably just an old fool for doing this, but if you really fought with that scourge, then at least you’re on the right side.” He turned to Ariella and added: “And you, young one, should be staying closer to home. These are dangerous times. I was a friend of your father, and I am sure he would tell you the same.”

  “You were more than a friend,” she answered somberly. “You were with him when he died.”

  “Let’s get this over with,” said Nimba roughly, lowering an edge of his wide wing. “Climb aboar
d.”

  Ariella spun onto Nimba’s back and positioned herself in the center. Kate did her best to follow, but the crystalline body of the Triangle was as slippery as ice. Carefully, she crawled across the surface, concentrating hard to avoid sliding off.

  “I’m not sure whether this is such a great idea,” she said nervously to Ariella.

  “Where in the high snowfields do you want to go?” asked Nimba.

  “At the base of Ho Salafar Ridge, in the middle of the avalanche zone,” answered Ariella. “I’ll tell you when we get near.” Then she turned to Kate. “Hold my arm tightly and you won’t fall. Nimba’s the smoothest flier on Nel Sauria, so don’t worry.”

  “Thanks,” said Kate. “But I’ll keep worrying anyway. It’s my nature.”

  “You will live longer because of it,” declared Nimba. “In this case, though, you have nothing to fear. I will create a pressure pocket around you both, and that will hold you securely.”

  With that, the Triangle began sliding forward across the snow. Immediately, they were airborne, gliding in the direction of the great glistening peaks. Below them stretched the vast snowscape of Nel Sauria.

  Kate’s eyes followed the lines of white hills leading up to the main spine of the ridge, which rose like a serrated saw into the sky. “This is such a beautiful place,” she said, shouting to be heard above the wind. “Especially when you don’t need to walk on it. It’s amazing to have a whole planet covered with snow.”

  “It’s not,” corrected Ariella. “Only the half facing away from Trethoniel is covered with snow. The other side is a single great ocean, what we call the Bottomless Blue. I’ve never seen it—almost nobody has—but many ancient writings tell of its beauty.”

  “So Nel Sauria is divided in half?”

  “Yes. One half is white, the other is blue.”

  “But doesn’t the planet rotate as it revolves around Trethoniel?”

  “Rotate?” Ariella’s eyes assumed a quizzical look. “What an odd idea! Does your Earth rotate?”

  “Yes. That’s how both sides get lit by the Sun, and how day and night follow each other. Say, if this snowy side of the planet is always facing away from Trethoniel, then how do you get any daylight? Why isn’t it dark all the time?”