Sentari: ICE (16 page)

The Last of Seven

The old stone paths that weaved their way through the Yen-Gyle Forest had become overgrown with moss and weeds. Sky and Oonuk walked ahead, setting a cracking pace. Julius walked closely behind them, listening intently to anything that Oonuk had to say. They had been walking for three days and Te’oma was starting to wonder if Oonuk knew where he was going. Little had been said since they left the hut, aside from idle chit-chat. They were each contemplating their reasons for being there. Sky had refused to talk to Te’oma. She preferred to bury her head in the sand like nothing had ever happened.

Ariana had never been this far into the jungle before; her father would tell her stories about the dangers that lay in the middle of the Yen-Gyle -not that there weren’t any dangers lurking around the edges either. The air was still quite cold, but the jungle had become thicker the farther they walked.

The tops of the trees had slowly started to form a canopy over the forest, blocking out the view from above. Something was warming the ground from below. That, combined with the canopy, was causing the jungle to thrive in otherwise frigid conditions.

“I know I’ve already said this, but I’m really glad you’re with me here,” said Te’oma. Ariana smiled back, clearly distracted.

“Where did you get the money from?” asked Julius, as he hurried to catch up with Sky and Oonuk. Oonuk did not respond. He just continued to walk as fast as he could.

“You said you’d answer any of our questions,” said Julius, as he stopped and put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. Oonuk and Sky walked away, ignoring Julius. Te’oma and Ariana walked around Julius. “Come on, old man,” said Te’oma.

The thick forest started to clear. Something in the distance grabbed Oonuk’s attention. He quickened his pace in anticipation. He broke out into a run and darted through the trees at a rapid pace. The trees had completely cleared out and Oonuk stopped just shy of a giant stone archway. The rest of the group caught up to Oonuk and looked out at the ancient Temple of Ardeya. The temple was now just stone rubble lying on the jungle floor. The archway still stood as a testament to the once-mighty structure that had been there.

The archway was decorated in Intari script, but the dialect was so old that even Julius had trouble understanding it. The rocks were still lined with pure gold, almost as if no one had been here since the day it was abandoned. As they walked under the archway, the scale of the temple came into view. The rubble stretched out for at least two hundred metres in all directions.

At the middle of Ardeya was the oldest tree in all of Sentari. The tree was more than twenty thousand years old. It was at least thirty metres around. It was so big that no other trees had been able to grow around the Temple of Ardeya. Its roots soaked up every ounce of water in the area. The tree created an opening in the canopy, which let the rain fall through. The rain hit the millions of leaves on the way down and broke into tiny droplets. By the time they reached the bottom, the droplets turned into a mist.

Surrounding the base of the tree was a large stone platform. But unlike the other platforms in Sentari, this platform was much bigger and, instead of having a pole at its centre, it had the tree.

Oonuk threw his little sack to the ground and climbed the base of the tree. He may have been old and weary but he could climb a tree like a teenager.

“We will make camp here tonight. Wait while I check the area,” said Oonuk, before he disappeared into the tree above. Sky instantly started assembling her and Oonuk’s camp. She was very fast and very precise. Te’oma opened his mouth but before he could speak, Sky said, “Don’t talk to me. I don’t know you and I don’t want to talk to you.”

Gobsmacked, Te’oma walked away from Sky with a heavy heart.

“Hey!” yelled Ariana. “You’d be lucky to have a brother half as great as Te’oma. How about you stop thinking about yourself and start thinking how this affects him too,” said Ariana, with great passion. Sky walked away in a huff, ignoring Ariana. She had prided herself on being unique; a fact no longer true.

Oonuk broke through the leaves at the top of the tree and poked his head out. The tree sat so high above the Yen-Gyle Jungle that Oonuk could see for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. From up there, it was plain to see that the world was covered in cold and snow and that the only relatively warm place was this jungle, and the reason for that warmth lived in the lone mountain that was now in view of Oonuk.

A bare mountain without a single shrub, tree or bush on it stood in the middle of the jungle. No clouds floated near it, no animals walked on it. It stood there unremarkable and not overly tall compared to the gigantic mountains that filled Sentari. Oonuk smiled, which was not a pretty sight on his tired, old, leathery face. “We are here,” he said quietly, as he descended from the tree.

Te’oma, Julius and Ariana sat around a small fire that Julius had lit on top of the platform. Sky sat at the edge of the platform, facing away from the three.

Oonuk picked up his sack and pulled out a very thin rug. It was quite big and the material was so well woven that it was almost like a stretchy plastic. He climbed up and cleverly tied the rug between the branches of the tree, stretching it out enough so that, not only did it stop the mist from falling on them, but it also funnelled the water down the tarp.

Oonuk placed a cup at the bottom of the tarp to catch the water. The cup slowly began to fill. Oonuk sat down near the fireside. “We are going to need to save every last drop of water. Where you are going, water does not flow,” said Oonuk.

Sky looked with disapproving eyes at Oonuk sitting with the others. “Come join us, Sky,” said Oonuk, with a soft, yet authoritative voice. After years of doing as she was told by Oonuk, she instinctively went to him, before she had realised what she was doing.

Oonuk ran his hand over the fire. It suddenly grew smaller and faded away until only the charred remains of the wood glowed brightly. “We must rest soon. You have as long as the light remains to ask any questions you desire,” said Oonuk.

They remained silent. They all had so many questions yet, right now, they could not speak. Te’oma was first to break the silence. “Did you know my parents?” asked Te’oma.

“I did. Their passion for you two was the strongest I have ever seen,” said Oonuk. Sky appeared uncomfortable. She went to speak, but was cut off by Ariana. “Why did the dragon save me and not the rest of my family?” asked Ariana.

Oonuk got up from the platform and picked up the cup and an animal-skin sack, which he slowly poured the collected water into. “Just as water flows, so, too, does life – it is fluid. We all ride the river of life, pulled by its currents. As mighty as he is, the dragon is no different to us. We are all part of the same river,” said Oonuk.

Silence returned. The embers from the fire grew weaker. Oonuk looked at Sky, anticipating her question, but it did not come.

“Where did you get the money you used in Yen-Dori?” asked Julius.

Oonuk turned to Julius curiously. “That is a very interesting question and I would ask: why you would want to know that?”

“It’s impolite to answer a question with a question,” said Julius.

“That it is,” said Oonuk. “Those coins were passed down to me from my ancestors. Used only on the rarest of occasions, it is said that they are accepted through all the lands of Sentari,” said Oonuk.

“Your ancestors?” queried Julius.

“Yes. My forefathers came from a faction within an ancient race. It is said that this race was once very powerful and that they split themselves among many different places around the world. My ancestors became the Sigamante we know today,” said Oonuk.

“Are any of the others left?” asked Julius.

“The Sigamante are the last,” said Oonuk.

The last light from the embers flickered delicately in the wind. Sky looked intently at Oonuk through the darkness. “Did you take me from my parents?” asked Sky. At that moment, the light from the embers went out and Oonuk did not reply.

Sky lay down on the stone. She stared out at the darkness that surrounded her, as she slowly drifted to sleep.

***

A gentle humming noise woke Sky from her slumber. She raised her head. It was still very late at night. The darkness was broken by a soft, orange glow that radiated throughout Ardeya.

A strange sound called Sky to her feet. She wandered aimlessly through the ruins. She did not even notice that she was alone. An old, yet familiar voice caught her attention. She turned around to see Gaia sitting by a small fireplace, smiling back in her direction.

“Please sit down. I have waited a very long time for this moment,” said Gaia, as a three-year-old Sky ran past and snuggled up next to her mother. Sky, still totally stunned, sat down opposite them. She gazed at them through the crackling fire. The light from the fire danced all over Gaia’s face. Her skin was soft and warm and her hair shimmered almost as much as her gentle smile. She could feel the warmth in her heart as she gently stroked young Sky’s hair.

Gaia took a small cloth out of her pocket. She laid it in her hand and gently unfolded it. Inside was a small silver pendant. The pendant shimmered in the moonlight. At the centre of the pendant was a hand-carved golden butterfly. The pendant was old, but Gaia had taken extremely good care of it. “This was your grandmother’s,” said Gaia.

“It’s beautiful,” said young and older Sky, both at the same time.

A warm glow came over young Sky as Gaia placed the pendant in her hand. She held it close. “Keep it safe,” said Gaia.

A crack of thunder shattered the silence. Sky was jolted from her sleep. She woke up with tears in her eyes. The orange glow was gone and replaced with the familiar sight of mist hanging over the ground. “It’s ok, just a storm. Go back to sleep,” said Oonuk. Sky laid her head down on the ground. She stared at the trees above, wondering if what she had dreamt ever really happened.

***

The night seemed long there. The warmth from the stone helped them to sleep more peacefully. In the morning, Oonuk sat at the edge of the stone praying.

There was a strange silence amongst the group as they all packed their things to prepare for the day ahead. Sky picked up her blanket from the ground and noticed a glimmer in the dirt. She brushed the dirt away and, sitting on the ground, was the pendant her mother had given her. Her heart missed a beat as she picked it up. She cleaned it off. The pendant was a little more worn than she remembered, but still beautiful. She put it in her pocket for safekeeping.

The group slowly began their march out of Ardeya. As they began their walk, Te’oma kissed Ariana gently on the forehead. “I need to spend some time with her,” he whispered to Ariana, who smiled back at him. Te’oma ran up to Sky who walked alone behind Oonuk. She seemed warmer to Te’oma today – more open to his presence. They did not speak; they simply walked together through the forest. For hours, they walked side by side. Their connection was apparent for all to see.

The forest began to thin as they reached its edge. Te’oma saw the lone mountain through the trees ahead for the first time and instantly knew that this was the place his father was talking about all those years before. “Where almost there,” said Te’oma, as they walked out from the trees and onto the dry, dead ground that surrounded the mountain.

Miles of dried-out red stones lay in front of them. At the base of the mountain was something none of them expected to see. An enormous canyon ringed its way around the mountain. The canyon was so deep that the bottom could not be seen. It was shrouded in mist and a dim blue light glowed in the depths below.

Directly in front of them was a solid glass bridge that stretched across to the mountain. There were no sides on the bridge and no hand rails, simply a flat, glass platform.

“This is it,” said Te’oma. They all stood side by side behind Oonuk. “Now, all we have to do is hope that he lets us past,” said Oonuk, as he walked towards the bridge.

“Hope who lets us past?” asked Ariana.

“the Shadow,” said Sky.

As they walked on the dried-out red stones, the bridge seemed to get further away. The stones were quite large and their feet were getting sorer and bloodier the further they walked. Oonuk walked ahead of them, marching over the stones like they weren’t even there.

Te’oma, Julius, Ariana and Sky all walked side by side for the first time. “Who or what is the Shadow?” asked Ariana.

“He protects the last of the seven,” replied Sky.

“Well, that couldn’t be more cryptic,” replied Te’oma.

“No one really knows where the Shadow came from. He has protected and served them for generations,” said Sky.

Finally they approached the glass bridge. The rocks had dissipated until all that was left was the dry, cracked earth at the edge of the canyon. Oonuk stood at the bridge, looking at the mountain ahead. The rest of the group caught up with him.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Julius.

“We must show respect to the Shadow. Only the worthy can meet the last of seven. We will wait until we are invited to pass,” replied Oonuk.

For nearly an hour, they sat on the dusty ground, staring at the glass bridge that lay unguarded. Oonuk intently waited the whole time, his eyes fixated on the bridge.