The Pillars of Ponderay (18 page)

T
he six Balance Keepers walked for the next hour.

Even with the special clothes Professor Asante had given them, everyone was trembling against the ice-cold wind.

Every so often, they would stop. Leroy would scan the horizon, making sure they were still on course, using the Ten Pillars as their distant guide.

“Angle seven degrees to the north,” Leroy would say, and when Albert, Birdie, Slink, Hoyt, and Mo stared at him like he was speaking Spanish, Leroy sighed and took the lead.

Albert felt as if he were in a dream world. The constant red-brown color morphed into one big blur. Ponderay's distant Silver Sea never seemed to get closer,
no matter how far they walked.

They crossed bridges like the first one, but they were smarter. Albert used his Master Tile, giving himself super strength. Together, from opposite ends, Albert and Slink held the fraying ropes.

The wind couldn't be controlled, but everyone held on, using their practiced skills from the Pit. No one fell.

The journey into the heart of Ponderay was going smoothly, until they came to a cliff without a bridge—the start of the Path of Pillars. The canyon in front of them had hundreds of tiny pillars, miniature versions of the Ten Pillars, lined up in a row.

Leroy stopped at the edge of the cliff. “Well, this reminds me of the Pit, and that's not a good thing.”

Hoyt peered over the edge. “We can make it across. We'll just have to go slow.” He glanced at his chest. “I guess my Tile is useless right now.”

Birdie cracked her knuckles. “We don't need Tiles to get across. We're Balance Keepers, and we've trained for challenges far worse than this.”

“You're right, Birdie,” Mo said. He stepped forward next to Hoyt. “But this is still going to be a challenge. The pillars aren't standing at even heights.”

Albert looked back out at the chasm, and realized Mo was right. The pillars were probably too thin to comfortably jump and land on, just a foot or two in diameter. Some were three or four feet taller than the others, with
four feet in between them.

“Now the real fun begins,” Albert said, shivering.

Just as he said it, there was a great splash from far below. Something dark blue rocketed into the sky, and Albert recognized it at once, just as the Hammerfin smashed its face onto one of the pillars. There was an earth-trembling
BOOM!

When the rubble cleared, Albert saw that the pillar had been obliterated into a bazillion pieces, and in its place was a too-large gap of nothing but air.

“Oh,
come on
!” Hoyt yelled. “We're supposed to put up with those things here?”

“I thought they were only in the Silver Sea,” Birdie mused.

“Incorrect,” Leroy said, pointing, as a dark fin flashed in the water far below. “Remember what they did in the Pit? The Hammerfins are supposed to destroy the smaller pillars, and let the Realm build new ones. It helps keep the Realm Balanced, sort of like natural tremors that are supposed to happen. The only problem is I don't see a new pillar being made in its place.”

“There's
not
a new one,” Albert said. He thought hard, focusing on the Flight Vision symbol. His eyes started to itch, and when Albert's Master Tile took control, his vision soared from his skull like it was on a bird's wings. He
zooooomed
across the chasm and went down, down, down into the depths, until he was looking at the surface
of the water. It shimmered like it was made of melted silver coins.

Nothing sprouted, not even a tiny, pathetic little replacement pillar.

“Yeah, nothing happening down there, guys. Must be a side effect of the Imbalance. But we can handle it.” Albert looked at Birdie and Leroy and gave them a thumbs-up. “Too bad we don't have Jadar with us this time, huh?”

Birdie sighed. “I promised him I'd bring back a souvenir.”

“I have to admit, that ugly dragon-bird of yours would be able to help us here,” Hoyt said.

“He's a Guildacker, and I'll take that as a compliment,” Birdie said.

The more time they stood here talking, the closer the Counter got to hitting zero. Albert knew they needed to get across to the other side, but
how
?

It was Hoyt who made the decision. “Stay here,” he said suddenly. His voice was determined and strong, and very different from how he usually spoke. “I'm going to fix this.”

Before anyone could stop him, Hoyt turned and sprinted away from the group, disappearing in a cloud of dust in the direction they had just come from.

“Where's he going? Why's he going
back
?” Birdie shouted.

“We never know why Hoyt does what he does,” Slink said, shaking his head.

Albert had to hand it to Hoyt. He
was
fast.

In less than five minutes, Leroy stood up and pointed. “Look!”

There was a cloud of dust coming back their way. Albert squinted, and before he knew it, Hoyt was racing toward them like he had just drunk a whole bunch of energy drinks. He had a big huge bundle of rope in his arms.

Hoyt dropped the rope in front of them on the cliff, like a big coiled snake. He twirled a pocketknife in his fingers. “We'll have to skip that bridge on the way back. Go ahead, thank me. I won't mind.”

“You destroyed our way back?” Birdie screeched.

Hoyt waved a hand. “You got a better idea, Blondie?”

Birdie kicked the cliff, spraying a few rocks over the edge. “No.”

“Then it's settled,” Hoyt said. “We'll use the rope.” He shoved Mo, who, after a pointed glare at Hoyt, stooped down and started to uncoil the rope.

“I really strongly dislike that guy,” Leroy grumbled to Albert.

“You're not alone in that,” Albert said, shivering as the wind picked up again, spraying red dust across the cliff. “But as much as I hate to admit it, I think Hoyt's right. If we use the rope to create a sort of overhead handhold
across the chasm, we can grab onto it for balance when we land on each pillar, and use it as a monkey bar to get between pillars where the gaps are too big to jump across.”

“Either that,” Birdie said, tightening her ponytail so hard that she winced, “or we'll all go overboard.”

“Do you want me to tell you the odds of us dying, dudes?” Leroy asked.

“No,” Albert and Birdie said together.

They didn't need to be told. They already knew the answer couldn't be good.

“If we tie this end of the rope here,” Leroy said, motioning to a large boulder nearby, “and then someone goes across and ties the rope around the top of that taller pillar on the other side, then we should be able to use it as we move along the uneven pillars.”

“I like it,” Albert said. He stared at the scattering of pillars. “I'll go first, and tie the rope. You guys cool with that?”

No one objected, not even Hoyt.

Slink stepped forward. “My dad is a fisherman in Florida,” he said. “I know how to tie knots.”

He grabbed the rope with his big fingers, which were surprisingly nimble, and showed Albert how to tie the strongest type of knot. They looped the rope around the boulder, and then Albert practiced the knot a few times with the other end of the rope. When he'd mastered it,
Slink nodded in approval.

“You're ready. Good luck,” he said. He helped loop the rope up several times so that it could hang over Albert's shoulder.

“You need to move fast, Albert,” Birdie said.

“Before the Hammerfins destroy more pillars,” Leroy added.

Albert nodded. “Well, here goes nothing.” He handed the CoreBow to Leroy. “Hang on to this for me.”

Slink, Mo, Hoyt, Birdie, and Leroy stood on the edge of the chasm as Albert readied himself for the dangerous journey.

Albert's knees felt weak as he prepared himself to leap. The first pillar was only about three feet away, and was at even height with the cliff that Albert stood on now. It should be easy.

Just don't think about the drop.

Albert bent his knees, took a deep breath, and leaped. He landed on the pillar with ease.

“Yay, Albert!” Birdie cheered from behind him.

So far, so good.

“This isn't so bad,” Albert said to himself. He leaped across more pillars, careful not to fall each time he landed. He'd made it halfway across when he got to the real trouble.

The next pillar stood about two feet higher than the pillar Albert was on now. To make that leap, he'd have
to put in some serious leg power. Plus, the second pillar looked thinner than this one. If Albert didn't land right on the center of it, he could lose his footing and fall.

“Take it slow,” Slink offered.

“But not too slow,” Leroy added.

Birdie clapped her hands. “You've got it, Albert.”

And I have my Master Tile
, Albert thought. He pictured the Jackalope symbol, which looked like a Jackalope's outline. He imagined himself leaping high, but not
too
high, almost like the times he jumped over orange construction cones back in New York City.

The wind whipped him in the face, and the cold seeped into the fibers of his silver suit.

Just jump, Albert.

He conjured up the jumping Jackalope symbol in his mind, and put all of his concentration into not losing the image. He made sure he had a good grip on the loose end of the rope. Then Albert leaped, about two feet upward and four feet forward. The Jackalope symbol gave him the boost he needed. Wind tugged at his hair as he crossed the gap, and for a second, he was afraid he wouldn't make it. But Albert's feet landed on the pillar. Behind him, everyone cheered.

“One step closer!” Leroy shouted. “Just keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll reach the other side!”

The next pillar was trickier. Instead of higher, it was about a seven-foot drop, and even farther away. Albert
would need to use Balance
and
the Jackalope symbol for this one.

He pictured the Balance symbol—a triangle with a sphere balanced perfectly on top. It was one that had become so familiar to him over the past two terms of training in the Pit
and
in the Realms. On top of that, he pictured the Jackalope symbol. He imagined the two symbols interlocking, becoming one.

Without hesitation, Albert leaped.

The drop was quick and terrifying, and he almost let go of the end of the rope. Albert's heart went into his throat, and as he saw the silver river below, he wondered what it would be like, falling into it from this height, hundreds of feet up.

He needn't wonder, because the Jackalope symbol carried him across, and again, Albert landed. He wobbled, close to toppling overboard, but a quick thought of the Balance symbol, and suddenly Albert felt so balanced he could have done a twirl without falling off the tiny pillar.

On and on he leaped, sometimes jumping higher, sometimes jumping lower, and once, which was incredibly tricky, Albert had to jump to a stray pillar that was far off to the right.

As he leaped, he could hear everyone else shouting for him, rooting him on. Albert thought he even heard Hoyt's voice in there, somewhere. It filled him with
confidence and spurred him forward as Albert made it to the final pillar.

This one was the tallest of the bunch, standing several feet higher than all the others. From up here, Albert felt incredibly small. The pillar was wide enough that Albert could at least stoop to one knee for a breather. He looked around at Ponderay, at all the red and brown shades, and the cliffs with their jagged edges that reminded Albert of gnashing teeth.

To anyone else, Ponderay might have looked ugly, a dark and desolate place. Albert thought it was beautiful, though it wasn't without fault. Ponderay held the kind of beauty that came with a warning, like a delicate rose hiding sharp thorns.

Mess with me
, Albert imagined Ponderay saying,
and you might not leave with your life.

He shook the thought away as his friends waved at him from the other side.

“Tie the other end of the rope!” Slink shouted. His voice was nearly lost in the howling wind.

Albert set to work. He had to lay on his stomach and leaned over the edge of the pillar. The wind tugged at his hair and prickled the skin on his face, and staring into the endless drop below didn't help.

But on the other side of the chasm, Albert could still hear his teammates urging him on.

Albert looped the loose end of the rope round and
round the pillar. He used the Strength symbol, and pulled the rope as tightly as he could before tying it off. He gave it a test tug, and the line held.

It stretched across the chasm, from the boulder on one side to the very last pillar where Albert stood now.

“It's ready!” Albert called. He waved his arms over his head, and his friends all prepared to make the journey across.

Albert stayed on the final pillar and watched.

Surprisingly, Leroy was the first to make the leap. He jumped onto the first pillar, his long lanky form as awkward as ever, but he'd done it. Albert's chest buzzed with pride for his friend. Leroy leaped to the next one to clear a space for Birdie.

Birdie went next, landing with ease onto the first pillar.

On and on they leaped, from one pillar to the next until Mo and Slink were on pillars, too. Once or twice, one of them over- or undershot, but the rope was there for them to grab onto until they found their footing. One by one, they crossed the gap the Hammerfin had created, using the rope like a monkey bar, and made it safely to the other side.

Hoyt was the last one on the opposite cliff. Albert watched, biting his lip, as Hoyt leaped.

The second Hoyt made it onto the first pillar, Albert noticed a flash of something bright yellow below, followed
by a strange popping noise.

“LIGHTNING RAY!” Mo shouted from the middle of the group.