From Light to Dark (12 page)

“I’d use three Bind Vines to make the ring itself,” she said. “That’s for the three different sides of you.”

He tried to avoid giving her a quizzical look, but based on her response, he guessed he hadn’t hidden it well.

“You’re a protector,” she said. “You want to take care of everyone even when you can’t. I’d use the thickest Bind Vine I could find for that.”

Eref bowed his head. That was true. Even if it wasn’t reasonable, he wanted to keep his loved ones safe. Because of that, he sometimes made impossible promises.

“You’re also a troublemaker,” she said with a wink. There was that second, transluscent eyelid again, closing just before the white lid came down. Dark People must have grown extra protections to light. This sub-lid likely reflected light away when necessary. In normal light, though, the effect was just lovely.

“Hey,” Eref said, grinning back.

“So I’d use a twisty Bind Vine to represent all the trouble you get into.”

He laughed. “I like this ring already.”

“The third vine would be a thin Bind Vine,” she said.

“What is that one for?”

She smiled. “Your weaknesses.”

“What?”

“That’s for the way you’re afraid of yourself,” she said, and she must have seen him squint at her, because she added, “Everyone has imperfections.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But what makes you think I’m afraid?”

“Observation. You think you can’t live up to your own expectations.” She dropped her gaze to the sand. “And when you were asleep, you talked about being afraid.”

“I did?” Eref was mortified. What had he said?

“Don’t worry.” Caer grinned. “I didn’t listen most of the time.”

Eref tried his hardest not to look embarrassed. The thought of what personal feelings he might have admitted while unconscious clutched at his heart. He wished he’d woken up first.

But Caer went on. “Bind Vines are really hard to get. Lots of the vines around here have different powers and rules about them. For instance, you can’t cut a Bind Vine without sprinkling it with water first. It will be as hard as stone otherwise. There’s even a kind of vine that will kill you if you make noise while you touch it.”

“Wow,” he said. Dark World was filled with natural beauty, but the land also held so much natural danger. The Bog Beetle had provided his first taste of that.

“But the vine isn’t the prettiest part of the ring,” she said. “I haven’t told you about the flower petals I’d put in the center.”

“Sure,” he said, a little bewildered. “Tell me about that.”

“The center would be beautiful. I would use a Liber Flower. Those are our rarest, most spectacular flowers. They come out only for half an hour every spring. They float around in the air, and then, when the thirty minutes are over, they just stop.”

“They float in the air?”

“Yep,” she said. “It’s incredible. They have three petals, and they come in all different colors. You could choose which ones you liked best for your ring.”

“How do they float around like that?”

“It’s some kind of nature magic. They don’t need roots or stems. They are all sizes and all colors, and I know it probably sounds impossible, but they just float through the air. They fill the sky. Kids come running out to play in them.”

“That sounds amazing.”

“You’d like them. It’s too bad spring is so far away. Sometimes they appear out of season, but that’s only when there’s something really wrong in the world.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I’ve never seen it happen. But there’s a story about a plague that killed lots of children in the Gestator hundreds of years ago. Apparently Dark World was such a sad place then that the Liber Flower fell down as a blessing. They say the flowers cleansed Dark World and got rid of the plague.”

“Why would you choose that flower for my ring?”

“Because you’re like the Liber Flower,” she said. “You come out of nowhere and make Dark World beautiful.”

Eref looked at Caer, who had bent down to draw in the sand again. She was the most incredible person he’d ever met. No one in his life had taken such care to understand him before. But to say he made Dark World beautiful…he didn’t deserve that compliment. He couldn’t live up to it.

“I wish I could give you something,” he said.

“What?”

“In exchange for my ring.”

“I haven’t given you the ring yet.”

“Your description is good enough.”

Caer smiled. “When things are back to normal, I’ll make you your ring, and you can give me a present.”

He nodded. But deep down, he wondered when that would be. Could things be normal again anytime soon? Or ever? “Normal” for him meant living in Light World, and for Caer, it meant living in Dark World.

The nervous tension he thought he had slept away crept back.

Caer touched his arm. “Hey, do you hear someone?”

The sound of footsteps echoed through the cave. Eref stood, hoping they didn’t signal the arrival of a soldier. Surely there had to be at least one safe place in Dark World.

“Don’t look so worried,” the Exile said, creaking in from the shadows. “It’s only me.”

Eref released his breath and sat back down.

The Exile dropped a pile of plants onto his desk. “Caer,” he said. “Would you help sort these for me? I’m trying to make healing ointments. You’re good with those, aren’t you?”

She stood up but stayed close to Eref. “Yes,” she said.

“Then get them started for me, if you don’t mind. I have to talk to Eref about something.”

Eref grabbed Caer’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She smiled back and walked over to the huge stack of plants.

“Come here, Eref,” the Exile said, hobbling over to the thin river. “Let’s not bother Caer while she works. Those leaves and sticks can be tough to sort. I can’t ever do it without cussing at least fifteen times.” He winked and waved Eref over.

“They don’t bother me,” Caer said cheerfully from the desk.

Eref followed the Exile and sat down by his side.

Water meandered lazily before them, its murky color making their reflections hazy. It came in from the mouth of the cave and wound its way back through a small corner of the cavern out of sight.

“Do you know where this river leads, Eref?”

“No.”

“It’s as large as all of Dark World. In fact, it is even bigger than that,” he said.

“How can it be bigger?”

The Exile hesitated. Then he seemed to come to a decision. “Do you like puzzles?”

“What?”

“Sometimes the only way to solve your problems is to think your way through. This river, for instance, is larger than Dark World. But that can’t be possible.”

Eref didn’t understand.

“You are in the middle of enormous problems right now,” the Exile said. “And the only way you will succeed—the only way you can survive—is by solving riddles. Do you think you’re up to the task?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s start with something easy. I’m going to give you a series of sentences. Every other sentence will be a lie, and every other sentence will be true. Can you listen to what I say and decide which sentences are true?”

“I guess so,” Eref said. He felt a sinking disappointment. Was the old man crazy? He wasn’t making any sense.

The Exile cleared his throat. “Listen carefully: Dark World is bigger than Light World by only twelve feet around the perimeter. Light World has more species of animals than Dark World. Light and Dark World share the same government. Light and Dark World have the same population. Dark World was not always called Dark World. The next sentence will be a lie. That last sentence was a lie. This river is deeper than twenty feet. I know magic. My tunic was given to me by a Dark Person. This river connects Dark World and Light World. I became the Exile when I tried to take over Light World. My favorite food is Dark food. This riddle contains six lies.”

Eref thought hard. That was a lot of information to digest.

“Now,” said the Exile. “Choose one thing from my true sentences that you would like me to explain.”

Eref stared at the murky water and went through everything sentence by sentence. There was a way to sort it out. He knew there was. The Exile had given him clues.

After a minute, the Exile spoke. “Are you ready?”

Eref nodded. “Yes.”

“What would you like to ask?”

“How can this river connect Dark World to Light World?”

The Exile’s expression changed from a stoic stone face to the contented smile of a proud teacher. “Well done.”

Eref waited.

“Now you’ve earned your answer. Do you see where the river runs around that far corner of the cave?”

“Yes.”

“What do you see coming from beyond that wall?”

Eref peered down the cave toward the bend where the river ran. He saw nothing at first, but then he noticed—

“The water,” he said under his breath.

“What about it?”

“There’s light reflected on the water. Just a little bit, but I can see it.”

“Excellent,” said the Exile.

“Where’s it coming from?”

“Would you like to look?”

Eref nodded, his heart quickening. He didn’t want to speak or think. Without looking back, Eref walked toward the light.

Behind them, Caer was still hard at work.

Though they were already well into the cave, it took another ten minutes to reach the turn. The Exile didn’t speak, so Eref studied the cave walls around them.

They were made of the same deep brown as the sand in Light World, and hundreds of limestone spikes hung from the ceiling in jagged patterns. The muddy water reflected the magically bright candlelight and the flickering from around the corner. It illuminated their cavern like a strange dream.

The closer they got to the turn, the easier it became to see the light. This was more illumination than could possibly have existed in Dark World. Eref’s heart raced faster. Where were they?

Just before Eref reached the wall, the Exile stopped him. Eref looked at the bright rays reflected in the water. They called to him. The golden bars waved slowly back and forth, as if saying hello after a long absence. He longed to run forward and discover what lay ahead.

The Exile’s face was serious. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”
Yes yes yes yes yes
.

“We won’t be able to stay long. It isn’t safe. I’m sure you understand.”

Eref nodded. It didn’t matter. He just wanted to get beyond that wall. He needed to see the light. It couldn’t be…. Could it? What was beyond the bend? “I’m ready,” he said, his voice a hoarse squeak. Every muscle in his body had grown tense, as if he might hurl himself forward without permission at any second.

“All right,” the Exile said. “Let’s go.”

Light

Eref dropped to his knees and clutched the sand. He grabbed a nearby Spiked Aloti plant and held its prickly skin to his chest. He opened his eyes as wide as possible and soaked in the light. It hurt at first, but that was just fine with him. The pain was good. He took a deep breath until his lungs hurt from stretching.

Here he was. The sun on his skin, the dry air in his lungs, the dusty road stretching all around him.

Home. He was home.

The cave stood behind him. Eref could feel the Exile waiting, watching, ready to remind him that he couldn’t stay here.

But Eref knew exactly where he was. An internal compass had clicked into his consciousness now that he was in Light World. From this spot, Eref could find his way back to his apartment in a matter of hours.

Tears made their slow way down his cheeks. He looked at the sand in his palm. “How is this possible?”

“The cave,” said the old man. “It is the entrance to both worlds.”

“But when I fell,” Eref said, his voice catching in his throat. “It went on for so long.”

“Didn’t you notice we climbed to reach the cave? The incline is disguised, but surely your legs felt the strain. I used much of what was left of my power to get us there faster than it would normally take to climb so far.”

He was right. Eref remembered the journey had felt more like a mountain climb than a level hike through the jungle.

“I don’t – I don’t know what to say.” Eref took another huge breath, and a gust of dry wind blew around him. All the scents of home came back. Thin, dusty air. Sun-scorched people, tall and slender, with clear, sparkling eyes. Animals running along the mountainsides in search of prey. The breeze carried them all toward him, and it was as if his own skin soaked up the joy of this moment.

A few feet from where Eref kneeled in the sand, an injured ocanroc, long and fat with black and brown striped fur, lay dying in its own blood. A regular sight on the outskirts of Light World. It wasn’t beautiful, but it, too, was familiar, and it felt like home.

“We don’t have long,” the Exile said after a moment. Eref felt his heart sink as the Exile said these words. “Let’s get to business.”

He stood and faced the Exile. What did he mean by “business?” There was nothing he had to do. In fact, there was no reason he had to stay. The Exile couldn’t catch him. Eref could hide somewhere safe where he could see and feel the sun. A very long time might pass before anyone noticed he was back in Light World. Even if he did get discovered, he could just come hide here. Now that he knew about this place, he could use it to his advantage. Light People didn’t dare venture near the Exile’s cave.

He wanted to do it. He could already feel his legs burning, ready to run.

This was his home. No one should have the right to keep him out.

“What are you thinking, Eref?” The Exile’s voice was slow and cautious.

Eref turned away and faced northeast. That was the way to his apartment. Caer and Vul…. They would be fine, wouldn’t they? They were in their own world, after all. This was his world.

“Don’t do it,” the Exile said. But Eref tried to ignore him. He was going home.

“You have a great task to perform. All of the world – of both worlds – depends on you.”

Eref turned back to the Exile, his eyes narrowed.

“It’s true,” the Exile said sadly, shaking his ancient head. “Give me the chance to prove it to you.”