The Tenth City

by Patrick Carman

  The clouds that had always hung over the water at the edge of the far cliffs had risen. They were no longer covering everything below. They had risen high into the sky, where they rested in soft clumps. I looked in the far distance and saw bright blue water, vast and beautiful, free of its loneliness at last. The water, no longer hidden from us, seemed almost to dance and sing. But this was only the beginning of what I saw. The rest was even more surprising.

  We had arrived at the very edge of the great pit that held Abaddon. It was wide and curved like a snake. Where the pit wall rose up it created a twenty- or thirty-foot ledge before meeting up with the far cliffs that dropped off into the sea. It was on this ledge that Armon and I had stood after swimming to shore from the Warwick Beacon. It was the great pit that we had seen, that Armon was drawn to in some terrible way as Abaddon called to him. We’d not seen the Tenth City then, we’d only seen this terrible place, and in seeing it we knew that we would have to find a way to get Grindall to come here. It had been our plan all along to lead Grindall and the ogres to this place and to hope that we could find a way to trick them into thinking it was the Tenth City, to trick them into falling into the great pit.

  There was yet more to see, and this last part was the best of all. In that moment, looking at the scene before me, I finally understood how much Elyon loved me — how much he loved all of us. For you see, just beyond the farthest edge of the great pit lay the Tenth City. It was the one place where the mist did not rise completely — it only rose a little, enough for us to see bright lights of every color shooting into the sky and the edges of tall, golden structures. I wish that you could have seen what I saw that day. The Tenth City was positioned at the very edge of the great pit, between its awful darkness and the rest of The Land of Elyon. All this time, as I’d wondered if Elyon had left us or never existed at all, he’d been standing between us and Abaddon, holding the darkest evil back from coming out and flowing over everything.

  It was hard to imagine why Elyon had chosen to use me — a lanky girl of twelve when everything began — to finally bring an end to Abaddon, Grindall, and the ogres. He had used the smallest man I’d ever known, a squirrel, and the last of the giants to help him accomplish his plan. I was at once overcome with gratitude that he had chosen to do such a remarkable, dangerous thing. That he would make me feel so important was beyond my understanding.

  After the clouds rose into the sky and the mist cleared away, the rumbling of the earth began once more, even fiercer than it had been before. The great pit that sat against the cliffs seemed to stretch itself out. The edge of the cliff that held the great pit to The Land of Elyon crumbled and shook, and then it began to slide down toward the sea. I remember Armon kneeling next to me, holding my shoulder with his huge hand, as we watched the cliff slide all the way down into the water, taking the great pit with it. All of the powers of evil had been contained in that one place — the fallen Seraph Abaddon, Victor Grindall, the last of the ogres, and the black swarm — they were all captured and put to rest.

  The water boiled and danced, turning black and frothy, taking with it the great pit and all who were in it. The waves crashed over the stones, and a new cliff was born, this one at the edge of the Tenth City, which stood glowing and perfect before the vast sea.

  CHAPTER 20

  THE TENTH CITY

  It was as though nothing else existed but the sight of the world changing before our eyes. To watch a cliff slide into the sea and witness the Tenth City sitting at the edge of everything was a miracle. I never felt so safe as I did in that moment, when I knew that Elyon would always be there to protect me.

  I don’t know how much time passed, but finally something happened that seemed to shake the group of us back to life. The hot winds disappeared, and the mist moved back to surround the Tenth City. My first thoughts were of Warvold. He was lying lifeless, alone somewhere behind us, and we were given a clue where when Squire screeched from the air. I looked up and saw that she was flying low, circling in the distance. Her cries were like a funeral song echoing over the Sly Field.

  “I’ll go back and get him,” Armon said. “It will only take me a moment, but I think it’s best that I go while the rest of you wait here.”

  As Armon walked away from us into the Sly Field, I took the Jocasta in my hand, unsure if it still contained the power it once did. It had been in the hands of Victor Grindall — had almost fallen into the great pit — and I feared my time of speaking with the animals was behind me.

  For once Murphy was not only speechless, but also as still as a statue as we looked at Odessa standing before us.

  “What shall we do to her?” said Yipes, looking at Odessa. “She betrayed us.”

  I looked in the direction Armon had gone and saw him in the distance, still walking away from us. He and I both knew a secret the rest did not.

  “That’s not exactly true,” I said. “Things are not quite what they seem.”

  “This sounds interesting,” said Yipes, a hopeful look on his face. “Do tell.”

  “Armon and I knew about the great pit,” I explained. “Elyon asked me to bring Grindall and the ogres here, though I didn’t know why at the time.” I paused, looking toward Armon once more. “It had to be completely believable. If we’d told anyone else, there was a chance Grindall would know we were tricking him. Murphy was with us when we saw the pit, but we didn’t even tell him of our plans with Odessa.”

  “What are you saying?” Yipes was practically hopping out of his pants with anticipation.

  “Yipes,” I said, “Odessa did not betray us. I asked her to lead Grindall and the ogres to us, to bring them out. If anyone is a hero in all of this, it’s her.”

  Murphy jumped to life, squeaking and carrying on, and then he leaped onto Odessa’s back, where he sat proudly. If not for my anxiety over Warvold I might have smiled just then, because I understood what Murphy said. I understood his relief. The power of the Jocasta remained.

  I put out my arms, and Odessa walked forward. I hugged her wonderful neck, her fur like a soft pillow against my face.

  “Thank you, Odessa. Without you we would have failed.”

  I pulled back and looked at her full in the face, and she spoke to me with the tilt of her head and a low growl.

  “If I had known Grindall would treat me like his pet dog I might not have agreed,” she said. “I came very close to biting his hand more than once today. I’m just glad I was able to hold myself back until the very end.”

  We sat together in the Sly Field, the four of us, and no one spoke. Me, Yipes, Murphy, and Odessa — we were all wondering when Armon would return with Warvold. I wondered if we could have saved him. Everything had happened so fast, but thinking of it now, I felt sure that if Armon had tried to fight Warvold’s death, Yipes would have also been killed — and probably me, too.

  “There’s nothing you or anyone else could have done,” said Odessa. “If Armon had fought Grindall, then our loss would have been far greater, and it is very likely that Grindall and the ogres would not have ended up where they did.”

  Yipes nodded his agreement, and I looked back over my shoulder toward the Tenth City. It was completely covered with white again, and the mist had spread to the very edge of the cliff where it hung like great gobs of cotton on the wind. I turned the last Jocasta in my hand and watched it beat brighter, then softer, back and forth as though it were alive.

  My thoughts turned to Pervis and my father. I hoped they were all right, but I had no way of knowing.

  The minutes passed until finally we could all see Armon coming back, a body draped across his arms. From a distance it looked like a father carrying a small, sleeping child off to bed, to a place where the child could dream happy dreams. But the closer he got the more Armon looked like the giant he was, and the body he carried looked more lifeless than asleep.

  We went toward him then, unable to wait any longer. Squire had lit upon Armon’s shoulder, where she seemed to be resting after a lon
g day of flying with no place to land. When we all met at last, Armon knelt down before us and held Warvold where we could see him, and then I saw something I hadn’t seen before and I never saw again after. I saw a tear fall from a giant’s eye and a bitter sadness so big it nearly broke my heart in two.

  “This time there’s no tricking death for our old friend,” said Armon. “His journey has finally come to an end here in the Sly Field.”

  I touched Warvold’s face and ran my hand along the cloth that covered his arm.

  Bring him to me.

  It was the voice on the wind, the voice of Elyon.

  Bring Warvold home where he belongs.

  I held the Jocasta in front of me and realized that it might yet lead us to the Tenth City as Ander had said it would.

  “We have one last thing to do,” I said. “We must find the Tenth City.”

  This one statement seemed to shake everyone back to life, determined to bring Warvold to the place he’d sought all his life.

  We were up and moving right away, walking the Sly Field toward where we’d seen the edges of the Tenth City in the clouds and the mist.

  “Let’s not tell anyone about how Warvold came back from the dead and we found him in Castalia,” I said, thinking already of all the questions waiting for me back home. “There are those who will say they saw him, but I won’t say that. It will be as though his ghost joined us one last time. It will make his life and his death that much more of a mystery, which is just as he would have wanted it.”

  “That’s the thing of legend, Alexa,” Yipes said. “And there’s no one who ever deserved such a thing more than Thomas Warvold.”

  It wasn’t long before we reached the edge of the mist once more. I held out the Jocasta and stepped inside. Everyone else followed close behind. As I had hoped, the Jocasta lit a trail in front of me, and I followed it into the depths of this secret place. We were closer than anyone had ever been to the Tenth City, and the earth beneath my feet felt somehow more sacred than that of any of the places I’d walked before.

  The mist was darker than it had been, and I realized with a shock why this was. Night was coming in The Land of Elyon. Was it really true that my father would not live through the day? Had I been able to change that? Once the thought had come to me, I couldn’t put it out of my mind. I continued leading the way through the mist with slumped shoulders and a downcast spirit. To my great surprise, in the very next step I took, the lighted pathway before me disappeared entirely. Worse still, the light from the Jocasta had gone out completely, and we stood in the darkening mist as lost as we’d ever been.

  Throw the stone, Alexa. You can’t keep it. It’s time for you to give it back to me.

  I tried to look back and see my friends in the mist, but I couldn’t make out any of them. The deafening silence had come on again, the sound of nothing at all, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for me to do as I was told.

  “I heard the voice that time, Alexa.” It was Murphy, his little voice breaking the cold silence.

  “I heard it, too,” said Yipes. “And better yet, I heard Murphy just now. How are you, my little friend?”

  “Who are you calling ‘little’?” said Murphy. “I’m taller than you from where I’m sitting on Odessa.”

  “Quiet,” said Armon. “This is no place for that kind of silly talk.”

  Armon was not angry — he was awestruck. This was the place of his birth, a place he never thought he’d see again. It was a place he’d longed for all his life, hoping against all hope that he might find a way back in.

  “This may be the last time we speak,” I said. I knew that everyone would understand I was talking only to Murphy and Odessa. “I’ll miss you both very much. You’ve been the best sort of friends a girl could hope for.”

  Odessa crept up next to me, Murphy on her back, and rubbed her big head against my side. Everything that was left to say between us was said in the way the two of them looked at me as only animals can.

  “Throw the stone, Alexa,” said Murphy. “It’s time.”

  I squeezed the last Jocasta in my hand and felt along its slick surface with my thumb. Then I held it up and threw it into the mist as hard as I could. All of the mist in front of us was blown away, and I saw something that made me very happy.

  The Tenth City is not a place that’s easy to describe, probably because it’s not of this world and there are no words to make it real. The best I can do is try, and hope you understand at least one thing — the Tenth City is where I want to go when I leave The Land of Elyon.

  Imagine the most perfect pathway with trees and flowers all along its edge and not a dead thing anywhere. No crusted leaves, no withered branches — even the pathway itself seemed alive with colors. Think of the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen, and then imagine nothing dead or dying there. Imagine everything in your sight becoming not more dead with time but more alive. The trees, the hills, the fields — all so bright and alive and getting more so right before your very eyes. As I said, it’s hard to describe, and I’ve done a poor job of it. And yet there were things I saw and things that were said that might help you understand a little bit more.

  This pathway I’ve described wound all through the fields of green and gold, bordered by the tall trees swaying in the breeze. Walking up this pathway was John Christopher, looking as happy as I’d ever seen him. As he came closer, I saw that there was no longer a C branded on his forehead, that he was stronger-looking than I’d ever imagined he could be. He was holding the last Jocasta in his hand. Coming to a stop before us, he spoke. His voice was just as I remembered it.

  “What a pleasure to see you!” he said. “I only wish I could come out and embrace you all, but I’m afraid this is as far as I can go.”

  He held out the Jocasta in front of him, and it began to glow once more.

  “Thank you for bringing this home,” he said. “One day you’ll all find your way here as I have, and you will have adventures that make the ones you’ve had so far seem very small indeed.”

  I smiled at this thought. It was a wonderful comfort to know that when my life in The Land of Elyon came to an end I wouldn’t be lost or destroyed or forgotten — I would begin the real adventure.

  Armon.

  The voice of Elyon came clear.

  “Yes?” Armon answered, his voice only a whisper. I turned back and saw that his head was turned down, his face to the ground, holding the crumpled body of Warvold.

  You’ve found your way home.

  Armon slowly looked up, and I realized something that made me both sad and happy at the same time. Armon had not only found his lost home, he was going home. He was the last of the Seraphs that had become giants through Abaddon’s trickery. I imagined that Elyon smiled to think that Armon would provide the companionship he’d hoped for so long ago. Armon was a different sort of creation than I was. He filled some deep need Elyon had for a being more closely like himself.

  Armon hesitated, looking down at Warvold in his arms. He was thinking the same thing I was — wouldn’t it be wonderful if Armon could carry Warvold’s body into the Tenth City? When Armon looked back up again, he let his eyes rest on me, holding my gaze, as if something were about to happen that he wasn’t sure how to explain. And then Elyon said something that took my breath away.

  Bring Alexa’s father with you.

  Thinking back on it now, I remember my whole life passing in front of me, the details of my short life streaming through my mind in a haze of thoughts. I thought of all the times I’d sat with Warvold, feeling things for him that I couldn’t understand, strong feelings that were more than just friendship. I thought of how alike the two of us were, how he had always treated me like a daughter when I came to Bridewell, how he seemed to have missed me more than he ought to have.

  I also thought of Renny — my mother — and of the mother I thought was my own, Laura. These were the same two sisters who had escaped Castalia and hidden in the clock tower where th
ey’d found Armon. And Nicolas — he was my brother, my older brother by a good deal. That explained a lot about my feelings for him. I had always thought him handsome and wonderful, but I’d never felt a girlish crush on him as I thought I should. It was all very hard to imagine, and yet somehow it was as though I’d known all along that Warvold was my father, and there had been a thin veil hanging in my mind between what I thought was true and what I could see. I didn’t feel betrayed, which surprised me. I felt something altogether different — I felt complete, whole, and right in a way I’d never experienced before. I felt as though I could finally admit that somehow I was never the person I thought I was, but now that I knew the truth about myself, it was as if I was breathing new air that filled me in all the right ways.

  What would I do when I got home? How would I talk with my mother — my two mothers — and the man I thought was my father, not dead after all? It was all very confusing, and yet I was overcome with a feeling of right-ness and boldness I’d never known before.

  “Don’t be angry, Alexa,” said Armon. “Your mother and father had to protect you, and this was the only way. Without you The Land of Elyon would have failed.”

  He looked so perfect, holding Warvold in his arms, his face full of sorrow and uncertainty. He knelt down in front of me, and I walked the three steps that put me close enough to touch my father. Even in death he had a thin smile on his face. I touched his face, tears rolling down my cheeks, and then I hugged him, knowing it would be the only time I would ever see him and know him for who he really was.

  “He loved you, Alexa,” said Yipes. I looked back at him, hoping he hadn’t been aware of this secret, and in his face I saw that he was as shocked and surprised as I was. All of this had been kept from him as well, and I felt good to know that he hadn’t hidden it from me all this time.