The Guardian of Threshold (31 page)

Once my dad was finished, Uncle Robert went up to the altar and helped him back to his seat.

“Hang in there, champ,” Uncle Robert said, patting my back.

After sitting perfectly still for about forty-five minutes and listening to the priest and family members talk about my mother, I got up and followed my father as we left the parish, following the strange wooden box with my mother’s remains.

We got back inside the limousine and rode for about a half-hour in a single file of cars until we reached a grassy field decorated with some sparse trees and benches.

“Daddy, what are we doing here?” I asked.

“This is where your mother’s remains will be buried,” my dad replied.

The weather was so treacherous that I was surprised my dad let me get out of the limo. Heavy, cold raindrops filled the scenery, and even though we were under a very big umbrella, I still got very wet and cold.

As the wooden box was being lowered into the ground, I ran over and threw a rose on top of the box. All the while, I heard not only my own sobs but also the desperate cries of my grandmother and the rest of the family.

I wouldn’t fully understand what had happened that day until several years later.

Ironically, those were the days I met my best friends. They were there for me every step of the way during those hard times. And in return, I had promised myself that I would be there for them until the end, be that what it may.

In retrospect, I’m still not sure if I understood the horrible events of that fateful day. There was something inside of me that revolted whenever I thought about it. And think about it I did, more often than I would have liked. Perhaps more often than was considered normal.

“Are you all right?” Dr. Rainer asked, worried.

“Uh? Yes, I’m fine,” I replied.

“I know you love your mother dearly. I’m sure she knows it, and she’s very proud of you,” Dr. Rainer said, patting me on the back.

“I’d hoped I would find her here,” I said.

“I know, but don’t give up hope, for hope is the light of tomorrow, the heartbeat of the universe,” Dr. Rainer said with such conviction that his words brought me encouragement.

I was about to ask if he knew something about my mother when Carla called my attention to the window.

***

Curious, I looked through the aerobus side windows and noticed we were going through an underwater canyon with a huge opening in the flat below where hot air seemed to be expelled from the ground. I touched the window and found it hot.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” asked Dr. Rainer.

“What is this place?” Carla asked.

“That’s the Core. If it wasn’t for it, Threshold would most certainly not exist,” Dr. Rainer explained.

The aerobus started to move in a steep upward angle, which was strange because I didn’t think we were that far underwater.

It wasn’t long before we were above the water level, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the sight before me.

Giant white birds flew along with the aerobus. Their wingspans were easily eight feet, and they had very long beaks. They seemed to be hunting some sort of marine life.

“Larus albus is a graceful and intriguing species,” Dr. Rainer explained. “Wildlife is one of my interests, sort of like a hobby.”

“Are they dangerous?” asked Jonas.

“Not unless you’re a fish,” Dr. Rainer replied, smiling.

“Ah, Dr. Rainer, that doesn’t look good,” Jonas yelled from the backseat.

As I looked where Jonas was desperately pointing, I noticed that the ocean seemed to come to an abrupt end.

“Oh, that’s… that’s Mammoth Falls. We need to ride past them to get to Living Forest. Actually, we should consider ourselves lucky. Normally, the weather isn’t this nice. It’s said that if you happen to get lost here, you wouldn’t notice the deadly falls until it was too late,” Dr. Rainer explained.

Jonas held onto his seat for dear life.

“I suppose it’s too late to tell you that I’m scared of heights,” Jonas said, shaking.

“No, it’s not, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. You know what they say… what goes up must eventually and inevitably come down,” Dr. Rainer said, laughing. We laughed for a bit, but deep down we were all, more than a little worried about the impending drop. I knew I was.

As the drop loomed closer, I held tight onto my seat. Little did I know that my worries were completely unnecessary.

The aerobus simply slowed to a crawl. Up close, the falls looked even more menacing, but instead of the fast drop we were expecting, the aerobus proceeded to descend down the immense waterfall slowly.

“Is that it?” Jonas asked with his eyes still closed.

“Pretty much. We’ll continue to descend at this rate,” Dr. Rainer replied as he pointed out the various wildlife species we saw on the way down.

To see an ocean of water fall fifteen hundred feet into the ground right before my eyes was a sight to behold. Never had I seen a more amazing and seemingly impossible thing, not even at the movie theater. The spray that was created when the water hit the rocks below was simply magical. The result was colorful rainbows that decorated the water mist.

“There,” said Dr. Rainer, pointing outside the window. “Those are the creatures the early explorers of Threshold first sighted when they first arrived here. They are the reason why they decided to call this place Mammoth Falls. Huge, aren’t they?”

In fact, they were immense. Some were brown with huge tusks, while others were young and white. The smallest of them was about the size of a truck. They cooled themselves by the water.

“The whole ocean just drops into that abyss?” Nyx asked, looking down into the rupture in the ground.

“Yes, it does. With the heat, some of the water evaporates while the rest flows underground, distributing its nutrients and minerals throughout Threshold. Each continent has its own well. We have the Nightwell—where we met—then there is the Daywell, and the biggest of them is the Everwell. It’s the biggest because it’s the closest to the Core,” Dr. Rainer said.

Just past the Core there was a shallow pool of water about a quarter of a mile in length. The large pool was formed from the falling mist as the water crashed violently into the Core. Even more amazing, it stretched all the way to the beach.

Incredible wildlife thrived here. Most of the animals seemed to be passive and even, dare I say, friendly. Dog-sized birds populated the skies as they flew in and out of the misty spray, while large animals roamed around bathing and playing in the large wading pool.

The sky was a peculiar mix of bright yellow, blue, and red. A few carefully placed clouds decorated the sky, while the warm yellow sun hung high in the background.

“Welcome to Dayside,” Dr. Rainer said, beaming with happiness.

I must confess that it felt good to see the sun once again—I was told that the sun never ceased to shine here. But inside I felt the darkness looming.

With the exception of a few ports and small villages, the area appeared to be mainly untouched by civilization. Its wild beaches would beat any vacation resort back on Earth. We seemed to be the only visitors.

“That’s a gorgeous beach,” said Carla as we glided gently above the crystal sands.

“That is Daybeach, and if you think that it is pretty from up here, you should see it up close. If you were standing on the beach, you would hear a mix of surreal and majestic songs filling the air. The wind is the maestro and the rocks are the instruments. On any given day, it’s possible to hear up to five distinctive melodies emanating from various hollow points on the rocks. This soothing music is constantly played as the wind passes through. Those natural songs are an awe-inspiring outlet for nature’s creativity, not to mention that they are considered one of the ten wonders of Threshold, followed closely by Daycliffs,” Dr. Rainer said.

The further we moved inland, the more agitated Spark became in the seat with Jonas.

“Come, Spark,” I said, tapping my leg after I’d noticed how worked up he was.

Spark jumped from the seat behind me, and I saw his small, outstretched wings. That was odd because I had almost forgotten he had wings. Instead of resting near me, Spark decided to hide under my seat. I called him, but he refused to come.

“Spark is acting strange,” I said, hoping Dr. Rainer would know why.

“Actually, he’s been acting strange ever since we got here,” Jonas replied.

“He’s bound to feel a little agitated around the Everwell,” Dr. Rainer explained as he started to put his books away.

I took another look outside and noticed that we were flying above a strange and rather large forest. The sun had all but disappeared, and we were back in twilight. Living Forest extended beyond twilight, with almost half of it crossing onto Nightside. But Living Forest wasn’t any normal forest, for normal forests don’t have trees that move freely about. At last I understood why it was called Living Forest.

Trees moved in all directions. Initially, I thought they moved randomly, creating congestion points that spread throughout the forest.

“What’s that down there?” Nyx asked, looking outside.

“That is the Living Forest, don’t be surprised if the place looks familiar to you,” said Dr. Rainer.

“Why is that? I feel like I know this place,” Nyx asked, puzzled.

“Because it’s your home… Phasma ordered you taken from here when you were very young, too young to remember,” explained Dr. Rainer.

Nyx looked at a loss for words.

“That’s my home, but it’s so pretty. I’d never imagined that my home could be such a pretty place,” Nyx replied.

“Nyx, I’ve been waiting for a long time for this opportunity, and finally the time has come for me to correct a wrong that has been haunting me for so many wind cycles,” Dr. Rainer said tearfully. Jonas, Carla, and I just stood there, surprised.

“What do you mean?” Nyx inquired, worried.

“I’ll tell you everything, but first I must ask you all a favor… Please keep an open mind and know that I’m ready to make reparations for my past mistakes. Also, please remember that this all happened a long time ago. I was a very different person then. I’ve changed much since the event in question,” Dr. Rainer said, visibly shaken and embarrassed.

After a quick nod of understanding from everyone, Dr. Rainer proceeded.

“Nyx, I was the one who took you from your people… Phasma ordered me to take you, I’m so very sorry. Back then; I had no choice but to serve Phasma. Please understand that I was lost.” Dr. Rainer paused as though he was thinking about how to continue.

“Believe it or not, the minute I took you from your sisters, that was when I started to change. I couldn’t bear watching you. You see, I was responsible for you when you were very young. But I finally had enough. So one day when nobody was around, I took you in my arms and fled to the only place I could think of at that time… Oh I wish you knew how much I regretted taking you to Watertown. I needed Oldroot’s help, but all I got, all we got, was deception. Needless to say, Phasma found us in no time.”

“So I’m not Phasma’s daughter?” Nyx asked.

“No, you’re not. He took you back to Cave of Sorrows and threw me in the dungeon. He wanted to see me suffer, he said. So, for many wind cycles I stayed there, chained and believing that I deserved to suffer. While I suffered, I watched everyone around suffer as well, and a seed of compassion grew inside me. One day I decided to take control of my life and did some serious introspection,” Dr. Rainer explained, crying.

Nyx started to get upset. Everyone but Dr. Rainer backed away as we thought she was going to burst into flames, but it didn’t happen. She was learning to control her emotions.

“Nyx, I tried to go back and rescue you, but I was told it would be impossible and that when the right time came, I would be given the opportunity to help you.”

“So when we bumped into you, it wasn’t an accident?”

“No, it wasn’t. I was there waiting for you to arrive. I wanted to help you however I could,” Dr. Rainer replied emotionally. “Please forgive me, Nyx. I should never have helped Phasma take you away from your people.”

“My people? Who are my people?” asked Nyx.

“Nyx, you’re a Twingler, and Living Forest is, always was, and forever will be your home. There you’ll find not only others just like you, but your family members and relatives,” Dr. Rainer said in a soft voice.

“But what about Phasma? Won’t he come and get me again?” asked Nyx.

“He can’t. You see, that’s why he had to use me to do it for him back then. Besides, now that you’re all grown up and you know the truth, it wouldn’t do him any good to take you away again,” said Dr. Rainer.

Nyx started to cry, but she kept her cool. She didn’t even get red.

“Dr. Rainer, I forgive you, and I’m very grateful for all your help and guidance. It’s funny. I don’t even know these people, but I’ve missed them so much. I can’t thank you guys enough for helping me out. You have shown me that there is a decent life, and for that I’m forever in your debt,” Nyx replied, still sobbing.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY

S
oon we spotted the station where we would be arriving. The tension had been building up for a while. The closer we were to our destination, the more stressed Nyx became. All the while, Spark continued to act strange.

My spirits weren’t exactly high. I still missed my mother, and I was starting to miss the physical world I’d left behind when our adventure started. The only person who didn’t seem bothered by the whole situation was Carla. Unlike Jonas, she was confident of a successful outcome.

Down on the ground, the scenery couldn’t have been more different. Flags waved in the wind. Dozens upon dozens of people gathered at what appeared to be the town center, cheering loudly. From inside the aerobus, they didn’t seem very tall, but they stood tall and proud. The first thing we noticed about Living Forest were its buildings, which resembled tree houses all built on top of giant moving, living, and breathing trees.

Most of the largest trees had several buildings on top of them. It was an amazing sight. Whenever they were near each other, a dynamic wood and vine bridge appeared to connect them. They stayed connected for a few minutes; until the organic bridge retracted and they moved on to connect to other trees in the vicinity.