Tenashar wanted very much to understand who she was and where she was from, and concluded she was from another world or time, as the wise had spoken of.
Tenashar saw things around the pool that made him believe that the Sileizan were the reason he saw Jerry, that somehow they had constructed this place. Perhaps like Eirshiquanai, Jerry came from the future.
After a bit of silence, Tenashar told Jerry that he wished to visit her time but that there was no way to get there. They smiled at each other from their respective worlds. Tenashar knew if Jerry could find a way to come to his world and time, she would make a great companion. They were the same age.
Tenashar wanted to know more. “What do people do in your world, Jerry?”
“Grown-ups go to work and talk about boring stuff. And dads take lots of trips and come home grumpy.”
Tenashar asked Jerry where her father went.
“Oh, he flies from city to city, sometimes staying for days.”
The word city registered in Tenashar’s mind. He remembered what his father had told him of Cashmakil and other great cities. She told him about the cities she heard and learned of, from school and her parents, and described the city she lived in, with its tall buildings that seemed to touch the sky. She spoke of wonders such as great highways, traffic, parks, and old buildings built long before her parents had been born. She described how the beautiful cities were lit up at night as if decorated with stars and jewels. Her particular favorite time, she said, was sunset, when fiery reds, yellows, oranges, and purples mixed and reflected off glass towers.
Tenashar yearned to see those glass towers.
Jerry also described the dark side of her world—the noise and the difficult and dangerous places she knew from experience to stay away from. She said school was boring because she had to study math and science, but she enjoyed working with clay and making things for her mother and father. She aspired to become a sculptor.
She talked of walking with her friends in the woods and pretending they were finding other worlds. They would play among the hilly rock formations and pools of water. But that day she was alone, on the one day she found monsters and fantasy friends in a pool of water.
Listening intently, Tenashar found that her thoughts were much like his. Jerry yearned for adventure and to go places that hadn’t been explored. This made him appreciate what he had, because what he considered difficult and dangerous was, to her, a longed-for dream. He felt she would gladly change places with him or join him. He proposed they find ways of going into each other’s worlds, for she wanted adventure and he longed for safety.
Jerry started jumping up and down, laughing and screaming. “Yes! Do you think there’s a way?”
At that moment, he realized Una-sei and A-amar were staring at him. The Rock and the Mushroom reminded Tenashar that he had to continue his journey. He thought that instead of visiting Jerry’s world, he would have her come to his and join him on the journey. “Jerry, you could help me on my quest.”
“Is there a way to come across to the other side?” she asked eagerly.
Tenashar’s excitement died away. He looked at his companions for an answer to her question. A long silence ensued.
Finally, A-amar spoke. “Are you sure it is wise to bring her along? She is clearly not aware of the difficulties ahead and the danger to her life. What about her parents? They would worry. This girl is just playing and thinks this is a game.”
Tenashar contemplated these words, looking closely at the still waters, staring at Jerry.
Jerry looked at him pleadingly. “I still want to be with you. Please! I’m not afraid.”
Tenashar said he didn’t know of any way for her to come to other side of the pool. He called out to Eirshiquanai, thinking her powers could bring Jerry to his time, but no answer came.
“Maybe you can just come into the water in your world and see if you can come across,” suggested Tenashar.
She stepped into the water, but nothing happened. She reached out to Tenashar, but that didn’t work. “We can’t do anything.” Jerry appeared to be almost in tears at being so close but unable to join him. Even if it was dangerous, she still wanted to come for the adventure.
A voice came clearly across the worlds to them. “You both must believe that you come from very different times and worlds. If either were to step into the other’s world, you would be lost—not knowing your place and what to do.” Tenashar recognized the voice as that of Eirshiquanai, who appeared. “Also, you have to think that fear might destroy you.”
Tenashar saw Jerry’s look of amazement at the sight of Eirshiquanai.
“She looks like an angel,” she said.
“Jerry, I’m not an angel, but angels are very close to my heart. I am a person no different from you—just from a different time.”
“Do you travel in space and explore different planets and have robot friends? I bet you fight aliens. Can you let me meet a person from another planet?”
Eirshiquanai laughed and said such things didn’t occur in her life.
“I’d like to be your friend. I never met someone from the future,” Jerry told Eirshiquanai.
“If you permit me to be your friend, Jerry, I would be very happy.”
Eirshiquanai conveyed simple words to Jerry, telling her that a day would come when she would be able to touch Tenashar and learn the truth about his world.
Jerry lamented, “Tenashar and Eirshiquanai, I wish my friends could see you.”
Eirshiquanai replied sternly that she would permit only Jerry to see her. Jerry’s world was not ready to know her. “You will learn, Jerry, more about your world, and when that time comes, I will be with you.”
Nothing could keep the interlude from ending, though, and Jerry’s image gradually faded. Jerry cried out for Tenashar to take her hand, but nothing could be done. The waters around him suddenly turned dark, and Jerry’s reflection vanished.
Night had fallen. The pool reflected only Tenashar, the moon, and the stars. He was sad, thinking he might not ever talk to Jerry again. As he stared into the calm waters, a slight breeze blew across the pool to create a slight ripple. Tenashar was alone—Eirshiquanai had departed.
Without notice, a twisting wall of water swelled up from the pool and engulfed Tenashar, flinging him about. A-amar and Una-sei were also swept violently away as Tenashar tried to grab on to them so they wouldn’t lose one another.
When the rushing waters finally settled and left them exhausted on the ground, Tenashar dragged himself to the pool, exhausted as he was from the struggle with the water. Tenashar knelt by the pool and swished his hand around, hoping Jerry’s image would return, but nothing happened. It looked like just an ordinary pool.
A sad yearning grew in his heart. Perhaps one day Tansatei would show Tenashar a way to bring Jerry back to him. It occurred to Tenashar that where there was water, it might be a place to communicate with friends over long distances.
Still yearning to be with Jerry, he called out to Eirshiquanai. After a while, she appeared. She told Tenashar he would see Jerry again, unexpectedly, in a strange place, but for the present, he had to hold her smile in his memory.
Eirshiquanai vanished, leaving Tenashar alone. He thought Una-sei and A-amar must have gone searching for food.
chapter 18
Nainashari of the Underground Realm
It was evening, and Tenashar was walking alone. A-amar and Una-sei were far behind him. If he’d needed light, the Rock and the Mushroom would have been able to glow with light greater than even that of the sun’s, but the moonlight was sufficient.
Tenashar yearned for Jerry. He could not pull his thoughts away from her—thoughts of the rapport they had developed, even if they had met for only a short time. She was a person far removed from his time and experience, which made her so remarkable, but the binding of their souls was all that was important.
Tenashar found a clearing. He rested and waited for his friends. He ate some berries and propped him
self against a tree. He threw his arms back to rest his head. He closed his eyes and saw Jerry in his mind.
When Tenashar opened his eyes, he saw an old man sitting across from him, looking up at the stars. Tenashar was startled but felt no fear. He scrutinized the old man closely. His eyes were deep set, and his skin as brown and as textured as ancient tree bark. He actually looked something like a tree, welcoming but strong, aged but sheltering. His white hair stuck out all over his head, like tufts of cotton, and a matching beard hung over his stomach. His ragged clothes suggested poverty, and he was thin, though he didn’t look hungry—just lean and wiry.
“Who are you?” Tenashar asked but got only silence in response. Tenashar didn’t know what to make of him; he just stared, wondering where the old man had come from. Perhaps there’s a village nearby? Assuming this elder didn’t live alone, Tenashar was gladdened to know others possibly were nearby—he had been walking for days without seeing any human, at least not in the flesh.
“Who are you?” Tenashar repeated. “How did you appear here?”
The old man looked up slowly and lunged at Tenashar, who suddenly found himself on the ground in the grips of this white-haired ancient. Despite his age, the man had great strength, and for a second that seemed as long as life, Tenashar thought he was going to be killed. He called out to A-amar and Una-sei, but they were still far behind.
The old man, who had the strength of a rooted tree, held Tenashar on the ground for another moment. Their eyes met. In that instant, Tenashar lost his fear, for he read no danger in the old man’s gaze. He now felt comfortable in his grasp—something he had never expected or had felt before. It was as if Tenashar felt tree branches growing through his body like water reaching into every part of his being, as if he was becoming the earth with its rivers and tributaries.
The old man relaxed his grip on Tenashar and sat up, pulling Tenashar with him, keeping their gazes locked and their voiceless communion unbroken.
“And why were you so frightened of me, young man?” The old man smiled openly, as if the entire wrestling incident had not happened.
“Well, first you startled me by appearing out of nowhere, then you lunged at me. What should I think?” Tenashar’s voice was sharp.
The elderly white head nodded, not as if the man were agreeing with Tenashar but as though he were looking for something. His eyes moved back and forth. He took a couple of strange little steps, circled back, and met the boy’s eyes again, sharply asking, “Do you know who you are?”
Confused, Tenashar thought this visitor very strange indeed and was about to shrug him off and continue his journey.
When the elder said, “One named Jerry has brought pain to your heart.” Tenashar turned and gasped at his knowledge.
“Come to my place—I will feed you and show you how to have harmony with the roots of the trees. Come with me, and you will know their secrets. If you don’t want to, just leave.”
Tenashar realized he had no choice. The old man grabbed his hand and escorted him to a hole at the base of a tall tree. As they entered the hole, it lit up. Down they went, deeper and deeper, and the light followed them. Tenashar couldn’t see its source—there were no apparent torches or lamps. He thought of the Rock and that maybe the old man had something like it.
They came to an entrance beyond which was a large cave room, clean but very cluttered with bowls and baskets, leaves and liquids. Every part of the room had something interesting to look at. Attached to the walls were glass flasks with liquid that reminded Tenashar of what he’d seen at the glass waterfall. Parts of the walls were also made of diamond and glass. The elder nimbly clambered onto a crystal platform and gestured to Tenashar to sit next to him. Gazing around in amazement, Tenashar obeyed.
“Isn’t this a nice place?” asked the old man. “But your friends on the surface will be looking for you.”
Tenashar’s attention focused on the old man. “Are you a spirit of the trees? Some kind of custodian of the forest?”
A big smile broke across the wrinkled, brown face. “Why do you think that? Do I look like a tree? Maybe you could call me a gardener, but my tasks are greater than that.”
This seemed to open a door for the old man to speak, and he began a long explanation about the many years he had resided in the cave and the things he had collected and created over the years. Pointing around, he described various parts of his home, clearly proud of his handiwork. At one point, he gestured to a basket of leaves. “You see the leaves shaped like stars? It’s because they want to be funny, and they like being that way. Aren’t you like one of these leaves that have lives of their own? They come from a very special tree. I will show her to you.”
At a dark end of the cave, a treelike image began to glow. It wasn’t very large, but it looked strong. It had a face of a woman; its branches and leaves were her hair. Her trunk looked like a robe. At first, she seemed shy. Her eyes were turned to the ground, and her face was hard to see.
Tenashar asked, “How can such a small tree produce such large leaves?”
His host responded, “Oh, she can grow to a large size. Just watch.” Even as he spoke, the Tree Woman started to grow and filled a large part of the cave.
Tenashar gasped in amazement at the Tree Woman’s growth and at a strange resemblance it bore to Eirshiquanai. Could this be her in another form? he wondered.
The wise old man smiled and whispered. “Her name is Wajanie.”
Leaves flew off the branches and circled around the cave, looking like colored paper or light. They glowed like Wajanie and seemed to be obeying her thoughts. Tenashar began to laugh along with his host, who said, “My friend, do you not feel joy? When we met, you were troubled. You weren’t jumping and playing, so I decided to lead you to where I play. Isn’t this a wonderful place, with all my fun playthings?”
“I am truly impressed with everything you have shown me. It is all so strange and wonderful!” replied Tenashar with a nod and a smile.
The elder commanded Wajanie to become bigger and then thin as a twig that turned into a shaft of light. She finally vanished, though branches and roots stuck out of the walls in all directions and reached for Tenashar. He looked wildly around, but they held on to him, stroking him with gentleness. He felt a mixture of fear and delight, for he understood that Wajanie was kind and benevolent, despite having just met her—and his host was also to be trusted.
Tenashar discovered a connection—he suddenly felt that the rock figures, the strange glass waterfall, and the pools of vision originated in his cave. Eirshiquanai said that the glass waterfall was from the future—perhaps that meant this man is also from the future. Were all these strange things simply meant to lead me to the cave? he wondered.
The ancient one gestured to Tenashar to follow him. They walked down a tunnel into a larger area, where Tenashar heard running water that sounded like music and saw amazing things—a world unto itself with forests, lakes, grassland, deserts, streams, mountains, and sky. He could vaguely see an ocean in the distance.
The old man smiled with an understanding gleam in his eyes. He reached into one of many large basins and produced a fish. Tenashar saw that all the basins were filled with fish. The streams were stocked with fish, and many types of trees held all kinds of fruit.
Tenashar sat beside the old man and shared his fried fish, berries, and other food. While they ate, Tenashar asked questions about the strange-looking things they were eating. One was a dark-green fruit with light-blue stripes shaped like a teardrop.
The old man spoke. “They are formed out of the tranquil mists high in the Seven Green Mountains, cultivated by strange animal people. The tree bears fruit in tall branches that grow toward the heavens. Its fruit doesn’t ripen by the seasons—instead, it matures at the moment the light at the end of the day becomes that particular shade.”
As Tenashar heard such stories, he imagined wonderful things. He wanted to visit the mountain where the fruit was cultivated.
When
the repast was complete, the host said, “It’s time to tell you who I am. I’ve come to trust you. In my culture, one has to first trust a person before he can reveal his real name. My name is Nainashari, meaning ‘the artist who flies around the cloud of heaven.’ Now that you know my name, give me your hand. This means I trust you.”
He drew a star on Tenashar’s palm with his fingers, from which flew small but bright flames. The star he drew with lines of light remained for a while and faded.
“This star will protect you throughout your life and will dance on your palm to warn you. It can show you whom to trust when danger threatens. Please believe my words, because they are important.” This was the first time Nainashari had spoken so seriously. He quickly reverted to his crazy but benevolent self. “What do you want? More? Much more? Eat, and you will feast with the gods.”
As Nainashari and Tenashar talked about many things, Tenashar began to think of Nainashari as a grandfather who was imparting wisdom to a grandson. Tenashar asked questions about many things—such as how the plants grew underground, where the fish came from, and how the snake-like strings of lights shone.
“They are not made of flesh or bone but are fashioned by my hands. I breathed life into them through the tools I used to build them. They are machines that have been given life. I call them string lamps.”
This gave Tenashar something to think about. This man lived in a world he had created from his imagination. Tenashar considered there might be valuable things to learn from the old man that would help him stop the Orbs. Would he be willing to teach his secrets to me? Do I have time enough to learn everything he could teach me? Could he help my people overcome the Orbs? And what about all the people who have not yet heard of the Orbs?
Nainashari suddenly asked, “What do you know of Cashmakil?”
Tenashar’s eyes widened. “You know of such a place? It’s a city my father told me about.”
A Journey of a Thousand Seasons Book 1 (Journey Series) Page 9
