Tales of the Dissolutionverse Box Set

by William C. Tracy

  The legs were long and black, and each had three round joints, so the little feet could move in all directions. The ends of the feet were small, and shaped like a series of bells stacked on top of each other.

  Nether glass was just as slick as the regular kind, even if the wall waved and undulated. There’s no way it will work. We’ll have to float back down to the ground, and I’ll tell Mom she should have let me stay home.

  The crystal beetle drill waved its joined legs at the wall, like it still didn’t know where it was. But then a foot found one of the holes the beetle had drilled, and all six snapped forward, grasping around.

  The beetle got all its feet in holes it had drilled, and slowly put its weight on the wall. The ropes holding it went slack and the balloon rose, released of the weight of the metal beetle. Mom throttled the gas canister until it was barely putting out any heat and the balloon steadied.

  While that happened, the crystal beetle drill used the holes to climb up the wall, until it perched at the last set. It was right next to us, its head searching like it saw, or smelled us nearby.

  I could touch it—no, her—black metallic back through one of the windows. I was almost certain she shivered under my touch. Then the head bent forward, plunging the mandibles into the wall once more with a hiss like a storm through the seaweed forest.

  “Looks like it will hold,” the majus said behind me and I turned to her. “Now comes the hard part.” She held me with her large silvery eyes.

  * * *

  It took us another two lightenings to disassemble the balloon, the basket, and transfer the things we were leaving to a set of permanent anchors set in the bottom set of holes we’d drilled. We stood on a platform made from one side of the basket, suspended far above the ground. At least there was a bit of a rail keeping us from tumbling out into nothingness.

  We filled three giant nets with everything we were taking along: food and water in one, the few clothes and personal items we brought in another, and Mom’s scientific equipment in a third. We attached the equipment and clothes to the beetle, only leaving the food down with us, along with a few necessities.

  Majus E’Flyr then took the longest coil of rope I’d ever seen, and looped the end around the body of the beetle. Partino made a bowline knot to make sure it wouldn’t come undone, and tied the other end to the platform we stood on.

  The majus gave the back leg of the beetle a whack, and she began climbing, plunging her mandibles into the wall and leaving behind a series of handholds.

  “Wait—where’s she going? What’s she doing?” I said. “Catch her!” I looked for some way to get up to the beetle, but it was impossible.

  “Calm down, girl,” Majus E’Flyr said. I clenched my hands around the woven fibers of the platform until they creaked.

  Don’t call me girl. Anyone would be concerned if our way to climb the wall left.

  The majus continued. “I discovered a little more about the System powering it when I had my hands down in there. The music that makes it run is incredibly elegant. It hints at cooperation between maji like I’ve never seen. Of course, I can’t hear the other houses, but I hear where they interact with the House of Strength and—” She took in my clenched fists and scowl and looked up into my eyes. “It will blaze a path for us, leaving holes in the wall we can use to climb.”

  I took in a deep breath, then let it out. I’m not a little girl. Mom wouldn’t have invited me if that’s what she thought. “Couldn’t we ride the beetle up the wall?” Then it wouldn’t need to blaze anything.

  But Majus E’Flyr shook her head. “We’re too heavy, along with the rations and the equipment. The internal mechanics and leg joints in the beetle would never survive the stress. We’ve got to climb after it.” The majus grabbed the rope, spooling out beside her. Her head-tentacles were twitching, probably with anticipation. “This rope will be our safety line so we don’t fall. Unless the drill does.”

  Partino leaned over. “We’ll need to support ourselves on anchors set into the wall, but if we get too tired, the beetle should be able to pull one or two of us up at a time.”

  “I can help with that too,” the majus said. “It’s why I’ve been resting up during the balloon ascent. I was saving my notes for the real challenge.”

  “Speaking of which, the climb will start tomorrow morning,” Mom called. “Let’s get a good sleep tonight. We’ll need it.”

  My watch said it was the sixth darkening. We got dinner from the ration net, moving carefully along the little platform we’d set up. While we ate, we watched the little city-shaped points of light in the Nether brighten as the wall dimmed.

  TEN-DAY TWO

  Low Country

  - Broken Column is the only place I’ve found in the Nether where the crystal shows damage, except for the Dome of the Assembly. I don’t think it was a coincidence that when I started the excavations around the base of the column, one of the first things we found was the drill. I believe both drills—the whole one and the damaged one—were used to drill into the column for some purpose. Maybe the creators of the drills wanted to use columns as storage, or houses, or water reservoirs.

  From the journal of Morvu Francita Januti

  We began the climb the next morning, leaving the balloon parts and unneeded supplies hanging below. I’d slept better than in the balloon, even though I’d been wrapped up in a woven hammock, hanging from a metal anchor, my legs dangling out over infinity.

  The beetle, far ahead, pulled the rope tied to our platform taut, and the majus explained the beetle could tell from the tension when she should stop for us to catch up.

  “Make sure your harness is snug,” Mom called from a few anchors above. I nodded and tugged on the clasp, just to make sure. I was familiar with climbing gear, from adventures with all three of my parents, though never off Etan. The harness was sort of like a big diaper with holes in the sides, and a rope went through a metal hook at the front, so all my weight was supported right at my center.

  The crystal beetle drill left us pairs of holes in the wall, each set about as far as my wrist to my shoulder. Because of its unusual nature, this climb required four people to work best. Partino and Majus E’Flyr led the way, taking turns to fit metal hook-like anchors in the holes. It was an exhausting job, which was why it took two people. Mom and I came behind, taking up the anchors we’d used, and bringing the net up with us.

  We’re building a ladder as we climb.

  The majus was as fast as Partino, despite her age. I stared up at her, glad she was a good distance ahead of me. I didn’t need any more condescension—the climb was hard enough. She must be using the Symphony to help her.

  I watched the expanse of crystal glittering above me, wondering exactly how high it went. The beetle was a speck, nearly out of sight, save for the rope trailing down. With only the wall stretching to either side and above, there was nothing to give a scale to the view. I glanced down, past the supply net dangling, to see the Nether’s floor—a slab of green and blue far below. It was beautiful. I’m glad I’m not afraid of heights. But it was enough to give anyone vertigo, and I looked back up. Only afraid of falling. Trust the harness.

  We climbed with our noses practically touching the smooth glassy surface, and it only grew brighter as the day progressed. I started to squint.

  Mom swung over on her harness, during a break. “Try these on.” Leather goggles with heavy, dark lenses obscured her eyes. I studied the pair she gave me, then put them over my head. The wall dimmed and everything went slightly purple. I turned around, hooking my legs around an anchor.

  “Wow.”

  “What is it?” Mom said, and we looked out over the Nether. There were low clouds a little above eye level, reflecting the light from the wall. With the goggles, the clouds were purple, shading to dark maroon. The nearest column pierced one, scattering wisps of water vapor like a pen through a wad of cotton. A halo of light hung around the column, bouncing up from the clou
d in rays of amethyst light.

  “You couldn’t have seen this at home,” Mom said. “In fact, we might be the first to see such a sight.”

  “It is beautiful,” I said. That’s all I was willing to admit for now, but I took in a deep breath, then let it out, trying to fix the sight in my mind. I shook out my arms and legs. I’d make a sketch of this tonight in my notebook. I needed to remember every detail.

  * * *

  Partino and Majus E’Flyr had to pull themselves up by hand while they set the anchors, using the holes the crystal beetle drill made as grips. It was the most dangerous of our tasks, and they traded off who went first every lightening, while the other climbed the set anchors, or rode the line trailing from the beetle and rested.

  I looked down, counting the anchors below us. It was my job to retrieve them from the holes. We only had a certain number of anchors, and we had to reuse them. That was where the other half of our four-person team came in—Mom and me.

  Mom slipped a pulley wheel over the end of an anchor, then looped the rope connected to the food net around it. “Ready?” she asked.

  I tied the other end of the food net rope to my harness and took a deep breath. This never gets any easier. “Ready.” I let go of the anchors, my weight bringing the net up as I rappelled down to the bottom set of anchors.

  At the bottom, I yanked the lowest bent metal pieces out of the wall with a grunt, hooking them on my harness for safekeeping.

  “Got them!” I called, and Mom hauled me upwards, the pulley multiplying her strength, as I plucked each anchor out of its hole. Before long, I was next to Mom and the food net, my harness stuffed with anchors.

  “I’m still not sure how these anchors work,” I said. It felt like they should fall out of the holes.

  “The Council of the Maji gave them to me,” Mom said. “They said they have Systems in them, and the maji who made them sized the anchors especially for the holes the beetle drills. Something about how climbing higher with them gives them the notes to stay in the holes.” She shook her head. “I didn’t really understand it, but they work.”

  “Weird,” I said. They didn’t do anything when I held them. Maybe they activate when they’re in the wall. Maji weren’t like what my brothers and I used to imagine.

  “Are you two planning on climbing any more today?” Partino called down, and I realized the rope to the beetle was drawing tight.

  “We’re coming!” I shouted back up, and reached for the next anchor, but my arms were already shaking.

  * * *

  The day turned into repetition: climb up with Mom until the food net was a good distance below, then set up the pulley and bring up the food net and collect the used anchors at the same time. Mom and I switched off, though I was better at rappelling down, and she was better at hauling me up.

  I looked down, surprised to see how far away we were from the supplies we left behind. I could barely make out the woven mat and the remains of the basket. Everything looked the same up here except for the waves and swells in the wall. It was like we were climbing a vertical ocean. My arms are burning, and it’s only a little way into the afternoon! How many days of this can I take?

  “I’m out of anchors,” Partino called down to us. We were climbing over a small bulge in the wall, which meant we had to support more of our weight while climbing up the anchors.

  “I’ll get it,” I called to Mom. She’d handed up the anchors the last time, anyway. My arms were burning, but I wasn’t going to give Mom the satisfaction of seeing me back down. As long as I’m here, I’ll show her a researcher can do just as much as a naturalist.

  I was used to the spacing of the holes by now, and climbed hand over hand, angled backwards over the abyss, my feet finding each metal rung between us and Partino and Majus E’Flyr.

  “Here they are,” I said, fumbling at the harness. I had probably thirty of the anchors hanging there, ready to use again. Mom had more with her.

  Partino reached down, his strong arm seeming as long as I was tall. I pulled out a handful of the anchors—at the same time the one I was holding onto loosened, just a little. Time slowed, and the smoothness of the metal flowed under my fingers as they peeled away from the anchor.

  I’m falling! Sea Mother break over me!

  The anchors tumbled from my other hand as my heart hammered, and my vision narrowed to a tunnel. Wind whistled past my head. I screamed.

  “Ooof!” The rope jerked me to a stop, but the anchors kept falling, end over end. I hung from my harness, gently twirling, until the anchors disappeared from sight below.

  They’re gone. Just like that. We only have so many anchors, and I lost these. What if I lost more? Will Partino laugh at me? The majus will give me that look she has. I’m only a dumb researcher. I should have insisted Mom take someone else.

  “Are you all right?” she was at my side, her hands on my shoulders, stopping my spin. “Anything broken? Does anything hurt?”

  “No, and…ow…just my body,” I said. I wiggled my fingers and toes. Nothing seemed broken, but I would have bruises from where the harness caught me.

  I have to tell her. If I don’t, I’m only a kid.

  “I lost some of the anchors, Mom,” I couldn’t look up at her. I messed up. She trusted me and I’m already wrecking the expedition.

  “I don’t care about them,” she said, and I looked up at the quickness of her answer. “I care about you,” she said.

  “But—” I let one hand drop out over empty air, where the metal pieces had disappeared. Maji made them. How expensive were they?

  “But nothing,” Mom said. “Hm. Did you know I lost all of my team’s rations on my first expedition?”

  I met her eyes. “You never told me that.” I grabbed the rope above my head and heaved myself back to wall, hand over hand. My arms tingled and it took three tries to get upright, hanging on the rope. I hadn’t realized I was so tired.

  “Well I did,” Mom said. “Lost them in the middle of the Sea of Fire on the third day out. Had to spend a whole day fishing for food. Explorer Harthena was furious with me, but that didn’t stop him from letting me take over his business when he retired, did it?”

  “You mean Uncle Harthena?” I asked.

  “The same. That’s not the only stupid thing I’ve done, either.”

  I felt a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Strange how he’s never told me those stories. I need to ask him when we get back.” I bet he’s got a whole boat of salty water on Mom.

  “Yeeess.” Mom drew the word out. “We’ll see. For now, I think we need a little help from the majus. It’s about time, anyway.” She waved a hand up at where Partino and Majus E’Flyr were watching anxiously. “She’s all right,” Mom said. “But she needs a little boost.”

  Majus E’Flyr’s head-tentacles were unbraided today and they twitched in what I thought was concern as she came down the rope that connected us, hand over hand.

  “Let’s see what we can do,” she said when she was closer, her large, surprised eyes looking me over. I could smell her, musty earth mixed with oil and rope. Her wrinkles reminded me how old she was. How had she been climbing all day, and only sometimes using the anchors? I looked at her long hands, purple and wrinkled. They were covered with dust from climbing.

  “How do you do it?” I asked.

  Majus E’Flyr must have figured out what I meant because she chuckled, gripping an anchor to keep her from swinging.

  “How much do you know about the maji?” she asked.

  More talking down to the ‘girl?’ But then I saw she was serious. I waggled my head side to side. “Not a lot. My brothers and I used to pretend to be them, but now that I see you…”

  “The Grand Symphony underlies the entire universe,” Majus E’Flyr said. “It exists everywhere, but maji can hear its music and change the notes.” She reached out with one dusty hand and took my arm, skin to skin. Her hand was warm and dry, with a vigor that
ran to her bones. “I belong to the House of Strength, which means—”

  “You can make me stronger?” I interrupted. Mom made an irritated noise, and I sighed, pushing my irritation down. The majus is trying to be nice. Don’t fight her. Or at least I thought she was. It was hard to tell with the Lobath’s surprised-looking eyes.

  The majus was in a better mood than when I first met her, maybe because of all the climbing we’d done. “That’s a part,” she said. “But the House of Strength affects a lot of things, like plant growth, and keeping you from getting cold, or sick. I can even adjust the melody of your skin so it can’t be cut—for a short time.”

  “Oh.” That’s actually pretty impressive. Helpful for a long climb. I could see why Mom wanted her on the expedition. Then I looked to the glowing surface of the wall. We’d been climbing all day. “Why—”

  “Why haven’t I helped you out yet?” Now Majus E’Flyr was the one interrupting. I swallowed the flash of heat that rose in my chest, and nodded. “We maji use the notes that define us to make changes. If we use too many—” she gave a one-armed shrug, “what’s left? I didn’t get this old by using my notes up.”

  I frowned. She has to give up part of herself to change the Symphony? “I didn’t realize it cost you so much to do your magic.”

  The majus’ head-tentacles twitched again, this time as a laugh. “It’s not so bad. For a lot of changes we can reverse what we do and take our notes back. That’s what I’ll do to you now. I’m going to make you a little stronger, so you don’t get tired as easily. I’ll take it back before we sleep tonight. Is that acceptable?”

  Is it? Of course it’s acceptable. My arms are about to fall off.

  “Yes,” I said. It was still afternoon, and the wall was only beginning to dim. We had a lot more climbing to do today.