The click of Jehenna’s crossbow was the only sound that could be heard.  Jehenna’s last remaining shatterstone bolt dropped into the tiller and was aimed at the head of the closest figure.

          ‘Wait Jehenna!’ Lilith cried.  ‘Don’t fire!’

          ‘I knew it!’ Rama said to himself.  ‘You could not be trusted.’

          ‘It’s not what you think,’ Lilith replied.  She stepped closer to Jehenna who kept the skeletal figure in her sights.  ‘You have one shot left.  Don’t waste it.  These are not our enemies.  I sense no evil here.’

          The one that Jehenna had trained her weapon upon spoke.  ‘Your companion is correct, Acoran.  We are not your enemies.  Quite the contrary in fact.’  His voice was hollow-sounding like the Ghul, but his demeanour was gentle.  Jehenna lowered her crossbow.

          ‘You’re Ghaddar aren’t you?’ said Sela.

          At the sound of his race’s name, the speaker bowed.  He had ochre markings running across his face, markings Sela remembered from months ago when she and her countrymen stumbled across a cave in northern Tamu and found the remnants of a battle that had been fought between the Ghul and a race that resembled them in every way except for the ochre paint upon their faces.  ‘Tamuan, you are correct.  We are the Ghaddar.  You can trust us.’

          To the surprise of her companions, Jehenna kept her crossbow raised.  ‘We can’t even trust our own kind.  Why should we trust you?’

          The Ghaddar speaker did not give any indication that he thought her comment to be insulting.  He merely gazed back at her with a passive expression and said, ‘In order to answer that, we must look to history.  Millennia ago, the Ghul wrought havoc upon your world.  We could not ignore the atrocities committed against your people back then, so we sought to intervene.  We assisted the Morgai and as a result of our involvement, the Ghul were vanquished along with the Cabal, sealed back in the Endless where they belonged.’

          With her eyes fixed on the Ghaddar leader, Jehenna stepped forward.  She scanned his painted face for some sign of duplicity but could find none.  ‘But aren’t you kin to the Ghul?  How is it you do not share their malevolent perspective?’

          ‘We are not kin.  Not anymore.  There was a time before reckoning when we were related by blood, but those ties were severed many ages ago.  Our people have been persecuted by the Ghul just as yours have been.’

          ‘Then why have you stayed in this dark place?’ asked Jehenna.  ‘Surely the people of the Myr would have accepted you if what you claim is true.’

          ‘We do not crave to live on the surface. We are as susceptible to the light of day as are the Ghul.  Even if we could walk under your sun, we would not have stayed.  The Endless is our home.  The Myrrans of ancient times did extend the invitation to join them, but we declined.’

          Rama stepped forward to join Jehenna but his manner was not guarded like hers.  He was curious about the Ghaddar.  Like Lilith, he sensed no malice in the small group that stood before them.  ‘What happened to you after the breaches were sealed?’

          ‘In the centuries that followed the sealing of the breaches by the Morgai, the Ghul hunted us down, striving to bring about our extinction.’

          ‘Extinction?’ said Bormanus suspiciously.  ‘If you are like the Ghul, how can you be killed?’

          ‘There are ways.  There is always a way.  Sunlight and shatterstone are probably known to you but we are vulnerable to other attacks.  Should our bodies be torn to pieces, or shattered beyond repair, then we will die.  But now is not the time to discuss our relative mortality.  You are in danger.  We seek to aid you.’

          ‘What is your name?’ asked Jehenna.

          ‘My name is Azazel.  I am the leader of the Ghaddar.’

          ‘Where are the rest of your kind?’

          ‘They are in hiding not far from here.  There are not many of us left.  We managed to avoid genocide and for hundreds of years, we lived untroubled by the Ghul, under the realm you know as Tamu.  However, the past year has seen the Ghul aggressively expand their dominion.  As you will be aware, they have sought out the old breaches and attempted to open them.  A battalion of Ghul recently discovered our home and attacked us.  They repaid old debts.  Their hatred of us runs deep.’  

          Sela spoke up.  ‘Some months ago we discovered the remnants of the battle.’

          ‘Hundreds of Ghaddar perished in that conflict.  Now we number but one hundred souls.’

          Jehenna was bemused by his use of the word soul – it seemed an odd description for such a race that looked bereft of any spiritual dimension.  But she could not help but feel sympathy for the Ghaddar.  They had been dislocated and dispossessed, left to wander the Endless, hunted and hated.

         She thought more on this... left to wander the Endless.  Suddenly a smile spread across her face.  It was a strange reaction to such an encounter, especially in light of the tragedy Azazel had unfolded regarding his own people.  The Acoran’s eyes twinkled and she paced backwards and forwards across the flagstones as excitement fuelled her adrenalin.  ‘Do you know what this means?’ she said with great happiness as she moved about the group.

         No-one said anything.  Jehenna continued to pace awaiting their response.  After long awkward seconds, Sela finally said, ‘Obviously, we do not know what this means.  Perhaps you could elucidate further Jehenna.’

         ‘We now have a way into the Endless!  And a guide.’

          ‘You want us to lead you to Caliban?’

          Jehenna stepped closer to him and lowered her crossbow.  ‘Can you do it?’

          Azazel nodded.  ‘He is far from here, but there are underground rivers throughout the Endless that lead to the Ghul’s main encampment.  They call it the Village.  That is where Caliban dwells.  Without incident we could find our way there inside three days.’

Jehenna closed her eyes.  It was the type of luck she had been denied since setting out on the difficult journey.  She looked deep into Azazel’s eyes and though they were very different to her own, she was sure they did not hide any deceit.

          ‘Then it’s settled,’ she said.  ‘I want to seize this opportunity before it spoils.  Let’s go.’

 

 

The Ghaddar led Jehenna and her company through the vast city of Johannan.  Deeper and deeper they went into the mountain, surrounded by the breathtaking designs of the Morgai.  The rooms and passages inside the metropolis fared much better against the depredations of time than the crumbling facades outside.  The strange murals that lined the corridors down which they walked had retained a vibrancy of colour that held the attention of the eclectic group.  High overhead, arched ceilings told long-forgotten stories from the Myr’s history.  Jehenna was reminded of the exquisite artwork on the roof of The Glass Ball back in Griflet.  It had been little over a month since she had sat there talking to Simeon; it seemed a lifetime ago.

          After an hour of quietly making their way through the labyrinthine passages of Johannan, they walked out into a large space that extended out beyond the light the curious shatterbugs shed upon the area.  They had passed through wide doors into what seemed to be a foyer above a huge room.  Wide marble stairs disappeared down into the darkness before them. The marble around them was inlaid with glittering gemstones of all descriptions.  Intricate designs curled around one another in wide arcs of varying colours.

          ‘What is this place?’ Sela said loudly.  Her voice echoed across the chamber.

          ‘I don’t know,’ Jehenna replied. ‘It’s too dark to see anything.’

          ‘I can change that,’ rasped a voice behind them. Lilith raised her arms and simply said, ‘Light.’

          Her voice was little more than a hoarse whisper but the power it contained became evident within a few seconds.  From her fingertips tiny white balls of light flew out into the empty room like a snow flurry circling around itself as it climbed higher and higher.  As the spheres winged their way across the space, the light emanating from them became brighter and brighter, illuminating the jewels in the floor and the surrounding walls.

          The swirling light rose high above the party eventually revealing the room’s most distinguishing feature – a crystal chandelier that was at least 100 yards from side to side.  It was the elaborate ornament any of them had ever seen.  The coruscating brilliance of countless crystals shining in Lilith’s ethereal light made Jehenna shiver.  The body of the chandelier seemed to be crafted out of pure gold. Its curling arms spread out to all corners of the vast room.  Suspended from these arms were myriad of silver threads upon which were laced thousands of precious Tamtu pearls.

          The crystals that hung from the chandelier varied in shape, size and lustre.  Some of them were the clear crystals that were commonly found in the mines of Camulos and Sessymir, but at regular intervals throughout the luxuriant chandelier hung sunstones.  These massive crystals shone with a brilliant red that pulsed gently when illuminated.  Sunstones were found deep inside the great shifting sand dunes of Khepera and there was nothing so rare in all the Myr.  Jehenna had seen a sunstone once before, in the great art gallery in Elidor.  Hanging above her in the massive chandelier were several hundred sunstones all of which were notably larger than the one she had seen in Elidor.

          Lilith gave her hand an elegant flourish and all the tiny lights she had summoned flew around the chandelier until they each found a candle to perch upon.

          ‘We’re in a ballroom!’ Sela said in a voice so soaked in awe Jehenna had to look twice to be sure it was the Tamuan who had said it. After weeks of huddling on rain-soaked ship decks and marching through humid jungles, it was strange to be standing in a room that was so civilized and refined.  Sela had heard stories of wonderful balls in cities such as Elidor, Cessair and Pelinore but never realised that there was a time when such affairs were held so close to Tamu.  It was becoming apparent that the forgotten city of Johannan was once held a thriving society where people danced and lived in harmony.  She closed her eyes and imagined the music that must have filled the great hall.  What she actually heard was something else altogether.

          A crashing noise thundered through the wide doorway behind them.  It was the sound of stone shattering, of marble cracking and oakaen beams splintering.  It filled the air and stripped away any sense of peace the great ballroom had temporarily provided.

Jehenna peered out into the dim hallway that had led them to the room.  Something massive was hurtling down the passage.  It wasn’t difficult to garner what it was.

          ‘Get out of the way.  Katkochila is coming.’

          Jehenna shoved Sela to one side. Rama threw his arms around Bormanus and Lilith and dived to the other side. A split second later, Katkochila barrelled through the opening, it malleable body shifting to a form that allowed it to squeeze through the doorway without slowing down.

          Unfortunately for the Ghaddar accompanying Azazel, he was the only one to avoid the great black mass that smashed into the room like a mallet through rotted timber.  They flew across the vast room and slammed into the wall of the far side, hitting the stone surface so hard that their bodies burst open like overripe honeygrapes. They slid down the finely detailed mural on this wall leaving behind three green smears upon the faded artwork.

          Katkochila swirled around the vast chandelier.  The creature’s innumerable parts followed its central mass and in its entirety the monster resembled a densely packed flock of darkbirds out on the hunt.  On the outer edge of the mass, Katkochila had formed a long dark tail.  It swung this string of spheres like a whip.  At the top of the stairs Sela ducked in time, as did Jehenna.  Bormanus had taken shelter in the corner of the landing, but Lilith was stranded.  Illuminating the room had exhausted her and she was not able to do anything to avoid the rapidly approaching tail.  She closed her eyes and braced herself for the bone-shattering impact.

          Fortunately for Lilith, Rama could hear the swish of the Katkochila’s newly-formed tail cutting through the air just as he could hear the Morgai’s rapid breathing.  In a stunning feat of athleticism and grace he used his staff to hurtle over Lilith so that he could stand between her and Katkochila.   A moment before the tail reached him, Rama swung down hard with his staff and connected with the large segment that was about to slam into his body. The result of this strike was most unexpected. He imagined his blow would do little to stop the sphere from smashing him aside, but it did not touch him; at least not immediately.  A popping sound filled his ears as the skin of the sphere broke under the weight of his staff.  It exploded, splattering viscous, black ooze all over the Ankaran’s body.

          The scream that exited Rama’s mouth chilled all who could hear it.  It was long and loud.  His clothes hissed and steamed as the sphere’s corrosive contents burnt their way through the material.  Rama managed to divulge himself of what was left of his clothes but his left hand and forearm continued to burn under the liquid’s acidic touch.

          He collapsed to the floor surrounded by the acrid smell of burning flesh, cradling his arm like a wounded pet.  He rocked back and forth, trying to work his way through pain unlike anything he could have imagined.

          In the middle of the room, Katkochila spun wildly, sending flickering shadows across the floor and walls.  Though only one small segment of its vast amorphous body was damaged by Rama’s small blow, it had obviously been hurt by the attack.  It twisted and contorted, its black body changing shape constantly as it tried to understand the strange new sensation that was bouncing across its many segments.  It had never experienced pain before. It did not like what it had discovered.

          Jehenna ran to Rama, whilst Sela took hold of Lilith’s arm and led her to the relative safety of the corner of the platform.

          Azazel had darted across the floor underneath Katkochila.  A number of segments broke away from the central mass but he avoided these deftly and quickly ran up the stairs on the far side of the room to where his fellow Ghaddar lay in a bloody mess.  Their bodies were trying to mend themselves in the fashion of the Ghul but they had been so badly smashed by the Katkochila’s attack that their lives were quickly fading, leaking out the bodily shell that now failed to contain them.

          The monster stopped spinning as it turned its pain into rage. Segmented tendrils spread out from the dense clouds of its body.  These thumped down on the landing, trying to squash the hapless Myrrans who rolled and jumped about in an attempt to stay alive.  Most of Katkochila’s blows were aimed at Rama, the one who had introduced it to pain.

          ‘You’re going to die if I stay here with you,’ Rama said in a voice wricked by the searing pain that coursed across his skin.  Suddenly, he broke away from Jehenna and bolted down the stairs, following in Azazel’s footsteps. Katkochila spun to follow him and extended more tendrils which would have resembled strings of black pearls were they not animated with hostility.

          For a blind man, Rama’s skill in evading Katkochila’s blow was astounding, but they were not enough. Halfway across the floor he was hit from behind. Although it was only a glancing blow, it was powerful enough to send him flying off his feet towards the landing where the fallen Ghaddar lay.

          He slammed into the wall and fell unconscious to the floor. Moments later, Azazel was standing protectively over his still body, preparing himself for the death that would be inevitably meted out.

          ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ sneered Jehenna as she cocked her crossbow and prepared to fire the last remaining bolt. She did not aim at Katkochila, but rather above it. She flexed her arm and the shatterstone bolt exploded out of the crossbow.

          Jehenna’s aim was uncanny.  The bolt pounded into the iron link that tethered the chandelier to the stone ceiling above.  The iron ring shattered instantly being the weaker of the two metals.  Suddenly the colossal chandelier was in freefall.  Katkochila had no sense of what was happening as it was caught in the vast golden arms of the ornamentation and slammed into the floor.  It floundered for a moment under the weight of the fallen chandelier, then finding no other way to extricate itself from it unique prison, it split itself apart.  Countless black spheres rolled about under an intricate web of gold and crystal.

          ‘Well that’s quite a trick!’ Sela said to Jehenna.  ‘We should be able to kill it like this.’  She reached around her back, pulled out a long, thick quill and made her way down the stairs and out onto the ballroom floor.  Under the veil of silver threads, crystals and sunstones, the multitudinous segments of Katkochila’s body hopped about erratically.  They moved quickly, but Sela was faster. She stabbed the nearest sphere and droplets of the sphere’s viscous liquid sprayed out into the air.  Most of the spray missed her but a few stray drops spattered onto her mask. The smell of burning wood rose into the air accompanied a thin trail of black smoke.  It was not enough to burn through the mask but it gave Sela such a fright she jumped back up the stairs.  ‘Not good. Not a good idea at all,’ she said as she listened to the wood of her mask sizzling.

           ‘Sela!’ Jehenna screamed.  ‘Just shoot them from there.  Quick!  It won’t stay down for long!’  Without a moment’s hesitation, the Tamuan span around and ripped back her cloak.  Her spines rose slightly, quivered and then shot out across the room.

The sound of hundreds of spheres popping filled the space. It was a strange sound, like a muted explosion.  The effect however, was so dramatic that had it been a noise, it would have been deafening.  The spheres shot their dark liquid out across the room.  When the liquid struck other spheres it popped those as well.  This strange chain reaction continued on until there was nothing left of Katkochila but a swirling mass of foul-smelling black liquid filling the floor between the landings at either end of the room.

          Jehenna gazed out across the oily black pool to see Rama being helped up by Azazel.  The Ankaran looked wobbly on his feet, but he was still alive and that was all that mattered. Azazel’s companions were not so fortunate.  They lay like refuse against the wall and there they would stay until their bones became dust.

          ‘Rama!’ called Jehenna. ‘Stay there!  We’ll come to you.’

          ‘How do you propose we do that?’ said a voice behind her.  It was Bormanus. He had stepped out of the corner of the room and made his way to the edge of the landing to look out across the acidic black wasteland that lay between Jehenna and Rama.

          Jehenna ignored his question and stared coldly at him.  She had hardly seen him lift a finger in defence of his companions on the entire mission.  He had never entered the fray whenever they faced danger.  He was always hanging back like a coward.  Or a traitor.

          ‘Whose side are you on Bormanus?’ she sneered, grabbing him by the frills that hung from his collar.

          If he was surprised by her attitude, he did not show it.  He stared back at her, his grey eyes unblinking from underneath his white bangs. ‘Let go of me,’ he said in a tone as low as his thin voice would allow.

          She gave him a derisive look.  ‘I don’t trust you Bormanus,’ she said as she shoved him away.

          He continued to stare back defiantly at her.  ‘May I remind you that I didn’t elect to go on this mission.  I was chosen.  By Maeldune Canna.’

          Jehenna didn’t flinch at the mention of her husband.  She just kept her gaze firm and said coolly, ‘I don’t trust him either.’

 

 

They could see no way to cross the corrosive expanse. As they watched the ornate chandelier sink into the bubbling mess, they were left with no doubt that any endeavour to traverse the dark morass would end in an agonizing death. The gold melted and the crystals shattered as they came into contact with Katkochila’s oily remains.

          ‘Can you freeze it?’ Jehenna asked Lilith who was sitting next to her on the top step of the stairs leading down to the floor that was now under six feet of deadly, black ooze.

          ‘I can try,’ she said with grim determination.  She closed her eyes, held out her hands and whispered the word: ‘Ice.’

The air crackled as a thin white film rolled out across the pool.

          Katkochila’s black blood bubbled and spattered as the skin of ice spread across it.  For a brief moment it looked as if Lilith’s attempt to freeze the acidic ooze would work, but a great hissing sound signalled her failure.  The ice turned to a foul smelling mist and the black pool bubbled in triumph.  Lilith slumped forward and groaned.

          ‘Lilith?’ cried Jehenna, concerned that the Morgai had finally depleted herself of the power that had kept her alive for so long.  She sat down beside the old woman and took her in her arms.  She was alive but her breathing was light and shallow.  Jehenna could feel her swallowing as she prepared to speak.  ‘Jehenna,’ she said, her faint voice resembling a gust of wind.  ‘I cannot –.’

          Jehenna nestled Lilith’s head into her chest and stroked her ragged grey hair.  ‘I know Lilith,’ she said tenderly.  ‘You did your best.’

          Sela and Bormanus sat down beside Jehenna and Lilith.  They sat there in silence looking out across the dark moat that separated them from their blind companion.  Although Lilith believed that Rama would be protected by the Ghaddar, she found it difficult to accept that she was about to abandon another member of her company.

          ‘You have no choice,’ Sela said, aware of what she was thinking.  ‘We cannot get to him.  To try will only delay us further.  Time is of the essence.’

          ‘How many more breaches must we walk away from?’ she said with suppressed anger.   ‘I cannot keep retreating like this.’

          ‘Jehenna, all the determination in the world will not get us across this room,’ Sela said with uncharacteristic sensitivity.  ‘We are drawing closer to our goal.  Over the mountains to Tamu and from there across the sea to Cephalonia.  We can do this.’

          Jehenna smiled at her.  ‘When did you become so positive?’

          Sela shrugged.  ‘Don’t worry,’ she laughed.  ‘It won’t last.’

 

 

On the far side of the ballroom, Azazel was helping Rama to his feet.  The Ankaran clutched his gold staff.  Jehenna was sure he would have fallen back down had he not had the staff to lean on.

         Azazel strode to the edge of the black pool.  ‘The Ghaddar will protect him,’ he shouted across the expanse.  ‘We will lead him to safer places.  Lead him back to the surface.’

         ‘Very well,’ answered Jehenna and turned to leave, unwilling to indulge in the emotions that tore at her insides.  But Azazel had more to say.

         ‘Wait!  You seek to cross the mountains that lie between Johannan and Tamu.  There is a path up through the city.’

          Jehenna turned back to face Azazel.

          He continued.  ‘It will save you many hard days trying to traverse the steep mountains that lie baking under your burning sun.’

          Jehenna walked back down the stairs and stood on the verge of the bubbling pool.  ‘Tell me more,’ she said.

 

 

He was good to his word.  The stone path he had spoken of wound its way up into the highest parts of the cavernous city.  Thousands upon thousands of steps spiraled higher and higher until the masonry of Johannan faded into the rock of the Mahatmahog Mountains.  Jehenna lost track of time as they marched up the winding staircase but it seemed like an eternity.  There was nothing to look at but the stairs and the dark.  A few shatterbugs accompanied them on the arduous trek and she welcomed the light, but the climb up the stone spiral was a journey she would happily forget.  She carried Lilith for much of it and after a few hours, the frail Morgai felt as heavy as a grizzum.  Jehenna’s arms burned but she would not put down her burden.  She could not expect Sela to carry her, nor had she any faith in Bormanus being willing to assist.

         Sela did well to stay with Jehenna.  The Tamuan said nothing, exhaustion sapping her of her will to complain.  Occasionally, she grunted as she endeavoured to coax herself up the staircase, but overall, their long passage up the stairs was a silent affair.

          Just at the point when Jehenna starting suspecting that the staircase actually had no end, she found herself standing out on a landing.  Opposite her an arched doorway revealed a moonlit panorama that very few Myrrans had ever seen.  They were high.  The spiral staircase had wended its way up the insides of the mountain range to the very top of a nameless peak.  Beyond the door the summits of ferociously steep mountains shone ominously in the distance.  Slivers of white clouds floated by like wayward spirits wandering over a graveyard.  The world outside was still.  There were no trees to be ruffled by the wind.  Everything was rock or sky.

 

 

Jehenna lay Lilith down upon the landing.  The Morgai shivered in the cool night air.  ‘I’m sorry Lilith,’ Jehenna said softly.  ‘I have no cloak to keep you warm.’

         Lilith smiled appreciatively then closed her eyes as she waited for Sela and Bormanus to join them.

Jehenna decided that they would sleep on the landing before venturing further.  Sela was so exhausted that she did not even look out through the doorway when she reached the top of the stairs.  She curled up in a corner of the landing and promptly fell asleep, innocent to the terrible sight that awaited her when she woke ten hours later.

 

 

On the other side of the doorway, the mists of dawn lay across the world below.  Here and there the tips of mountains breached the surface, like islands in a sea of milk.

          Jehenna stepped through the doorway to find herself standing at the foot of an extraordinary bridge.  It was so long not even her keen sight could see the other end.  It stretched out over the yawning space between the mountain peaks, curving in a gentle arc to a pinnacle at least five leagues away.

          The bridge was neither suspended from above nor supported from below.  It was the single most impressive feat of engineering Jehenna had ever seen.  Try as she might, she could not understand how it could have been built.  Despite the mountains winds swirling around her, the bridge itself felt secure, albeit incredibly thin.

          Sela felt her senses fall over themselves when she woke up and looked out through the doorway.  The bridge across the sky made the stairs encircling Cessair Tower seem insignificant.  It was little more than a narrow slab.  It had no railing and was only wide enough for one person.  It seemed designed to induce vertigo.  Shaking terribly, the Tamuan sank to her knees.  Had she eaten that morning, she would have vomited.  ‘I can’t walk out there,’ she groaned.

          ‘Why not?’ asked Jehenna who comfortably stood upon the bridge despite the vertiginous outlook it commanded.

          ‘It’s this thing I have about dying,’ Sela scoffed.  ‘I don't enjoy doing it.’

          ‘You’ll be fine,’ Jehenna said unconvincingly.

          ‘No, I won’t!’ Sela retorted.  ‘I can’t walk upon such a splinter of rock.’

          A hand touched her gently on the shoulder.  ‘You will be fine, Sela.  I promise you.’

          It was Lilith.  She had woken from a long sleep and looked much refreshed.  She was standing behind Sela, gazing out across the unique vista.  Her face contained a vitality Sela had not seen since the Morgai assumed her true form.

          ‘Can you make such a promise Lilith?’ Sela asked as she turned to face the old woman.

          Lilith’s eyes twinkled.  ‘Yes I can.  I have seen your future Sela.  It stretches out beyond my sight.  You do not die any time soon.’  She said it with such certainty that Sela was left with no choice but to believe her.

          Lilith pointed out across the span.  ‘This bridge was built thousands of years by Morgai much more powerful than me.  The bridge’s construction is a feat of magick not engineering, and much of that magick still exists.  Even if you tried to fall off, the magicks surrounding the bridge would not allow it.’

          ‘If it’s all the same to you Lilith, I won’t try to fall off,’ Sela said dryly.

          Lilith’s old eyes shone.  ‘Sela, your home lies on the other side of this bridge.  Do not focus on what could happen on the way.  Focus on the destination.’

          ‘Are you being metaphoric?’ the Tamuan asked curiously.

          ‘Not at all,’ Lilith replied.  ‘Let’s go.’

 

 

Whilst the march across the bridge was spectacular, it passed without incident.  Jehenna went first, lightly stepping across the bridge enjoying the striking view without any fear in her heart.  She was followed by Sela who walked crouched over with her arms spread wide apart for balance.  Although Lilith’s reassurances that she could not fall did much to build her confidence, the sheer height of the drop was such that it pounded away at her resolve to reach the other side.  She spoke incessantly to herself, partly to coax herself onwards and also to make her time out on the bridge pass by quicker.  She was followed by Lilith who stayed close, like a mother watching her young walking for the first time.  Bormanus made up the rear.  In contrast to Sela, he said nothing.  He neither seemed daunted by the impossibly high bridge, nor particularly interested in the view it afforded them.

         It took the best part of the day to cross the structure.  The four did not stop to eat, drink or talk.  Their task was simple – to reach the other side.  There was no need to consider anything else until that was done.  They were blessed by a perfect day for the crossing.  The sun shone on them for the entire transit, keeping them warm but not so much that it made things uncomfortable.

         By late afternoon, even Jehenna was beginning to tire, but the spirits of the group quickly picked up when the landing on the other side of the bridge came into view.  There was no doorway framing this landing – just a steep path that twisted off over the saddle of the receiving peak before it was lost in the twilight gathering in the air.

          Sela lay down exhausted, ignoring the astounding view the landing presented.  Jehenna and Lilith crossed the landing to look out upon the plains of Tamu.  Though golden in the daylight, the grasslands far below appeared grey in the fading light of day.  To the north, the plains stretched on forever, flanked on their left by the Mahatmahog Mountains and on the right by the Tamtu Ocean.  At the base of the incredibly steep slope before them, about a league inside the savannah, lights could be seen flickering in the dusk – the village of Nuadu.

         Jehenna turned to Lilith and whispered, ‘I have to know – that bit about the Morgai magick preventing us from falling.  Was that true?’

         Lilith paused before answering.  ‘In a sense... yes.’

          A broad smile crept across Jehenna’s face.  She lifted a hand to her mouth so that Sela couldn’t see.  ‘I don't believe it!’ she laughed in astonishment.  ‘You lied to us.’

          ‘I wouldn't call it a lie,’ retorted Lilith her voice little more than a whisper.

          ‘Oh really, Lilith?  What would you call it?’

          ‘Encouragement.’

          Jehenna’s smile did not fade as she nodded and returned her gaze to the savannah far below.  ‘Is that Nuadu down there?’

          ‘Yes,’ said Sela, overhearing the comment.  She lifted her head and sat up.  ‘I have never seen it from this vantage point, but that’s home.’

          Jehenna walked over to the Tamuan and sat down beside her.  ‘We’ll sleep here tonight.  We should be there by midday if we don’t stop for breakfast.’

          Sela smiled.  Jehenna rarely let them stop for breakfast.  Sela couldn’t remember the last time she ate a proper meal.

          Suddenly, the Acoran cocked her head to one side and said, ‘Oh, that’s pretty.’

          ‘What is?’ Sela enquired.  ‘Do you hear something?’

          Jehenna nodded but didn’t explain.

          ‘Well. What is it?  We don’t all have ears like yours.’

          Jehenna wasn’t sure whether the comment was a compliment regarding the incredible hearing possessed by the Acora, or a commonplace jibe about her race’s slightly pointy ears.

          ‘Bells.  I hear the sound of hundred of little bells.’

          Underneath her mask, Sela’s face paled.  ‘By the gods, no!  No.  No.  No!’  She hunched down and clasped her hands to her ears even though she couldn’t hear the sound Jehenna was alluding to.  Her body was taut as if preparing for a collision no-one else could see.

          She lifted her head and stared at the tiny speck that was Nuadu many leagues below.  She stood, took one look at the steep slope beneath her and leapt from the platform.