The Pillars of Ponderay (19 page)

The ray was soaring from the waters below like a bird, its flapping sides outspread like wings. The ray was
massive
, almost as large as the King Fireflies had been back in Calderon.

Albert watched it all happen in slow motion. The ray soared up, far over their heads. When it reached top height, it did a flip in midair and dove downward, barely missing Leroy's face. It nicked him in the foot, and Leroy stumbled, the shock having paralyzed his foot.

“I'm gonna die!” Leroy cried out, wiggling his foot and about to topple off his pillar because of his panic. “I'm only eleven and I'm gonna die!” But he grabbed the rope in record time, and managed to straighten himself. Right then and there, Albert thanked Hoyt for coming up with the idea of the rope. It had just saved Leroy's life.

“Leroy, focus!” Albert shouted.

“Get it together!” Birdie yelled. Leroy whirled on his pillar, eyes wide.

“It's fine, Leroy!” Albert coaxed. “It's just a little numbness. It'll wear off soon. You have to keep heading my way, before more rays attack.”

The next pillar for Leroy was a big leap. But he managed to make it, and Birdie, Slink, Mo, and Hoyt followed suit, landing on theirs. Hoyt was still a few pillars behind,
though. It looked like it was taking everything he had just to make each jump.

Suddenly, another Lightning Ray leaped from the waves. It stung Hoyt in the hand, and he howled like Farnsworth at the pain.

Seconds later, the Hammerfins attacked.

Two of them bolted out of the water like rockets, speeding toward Hoyt's pillar so fast that no one could have done anything about it. Hoyt leaped.

Boom! Boom!

Rock and dust exploded everywhere. All six of them screamed, and suddenly there was a huge tug on the rope. When the dust cleared, Albert could see everyone straining to keep themselves on their feet.

There was nothing left in the space where Hoyt's pillar used to be, and nothing next to it, either. There was now at least fourteen feet of empty space, and right in the middle, Hoyt dangled from the rope with both hands, hanging on for dear life.

“I can't hang on much longer!” Hoyt shouted. “I can't feel my left hand! I'm slipping!” His feet dangled over the chasm below. If he fell, he would surely die.

“Someone help him!” Slink yelled.

Albert's entire body froze in fear.

They had to do something to help Hoyt, and
fast.

Hoyt needed to scoot across the rope, but he was already slipping, the numbness from the Lightning Ray
rendering his left hand useless. His fingers turned bright white as he tried to hold on.

There was a
pop!
A Lightning Ray rocketed from the waters below and went for Slink. He ducked, narrowly avoiding a paralyzed face.

More Lightning Rays followed, targeting the other Balance Keepers.

“Move!” Birdie shouted. In front of her, Leroy leaped, reaching another pillar, and Birdie followed. Slink and Mo followed, too, and Hoyt was left hanging on behind them.

“We have to go back for him!” Mo shouted. He turned and tried to leap onto his previous pillar, but a Lightning Ray got in his way. Mo's hand swelled to twice its normal size. He tried to leap again, but another ray leaped out of the water below and stopped him.

The Lightning Rays didn't want them passing, and they'd do whatever they could to prevent it. Just like Professor Asante had said.

While everyone else ducked and hopped and avoided Lighting Rays from their own pillars, Albert watched Hoyt.

They couldn't just let him hang there.

A gust of wind whipped through the air, and Hoyt's injured hand slipped. Mo tried to go back and help again, but this time a Hammerfin burst out of the water.

Mo had to jump onto Slink's pillar, and together, the
two boys barely fit. Mo's pillar had been smashed to bits.

“Come back!” Hoyt screamed. “Don't leave me here! Don't leave me, please!”

He dangled by one hand for a moment, before gaining his grip again. His eyes met Albert's. Hoyt's were as panicked as a cornered rabbit's. The expression in them begged for saving.

Albert couldn't take it anymore. The Balance Keepers were losing concentration, scattered like ants in the rain. He had to take control of the group and save Hoyt before it was too late.

“Come this way, hurry!” Albert shouted to all the others. He leaped from his final pillar onto the safe, solid ground of the cliff. The others followed, racing across the tops of their pillars toward the cliff.

All the while, the Lightning Rays attacked, and Hoyt got closer and closer to falling. He'd been hanging on for at least three minutes already.

When everyone was safely on the cliff (albeit with a few paralyzed hands and feet), Albert leaped back toward the pillars, back in the direction he'd already come.

“Albert, what are you doing?!” Birdie screamed.

“Someone has to help him!” Albert said.

“Whatever you're going to do, Flynn, you'd better do it fast!” Hoyt shouted. A Lightning Ray shot out of the waves. It managed to get Hoyt's foot, and the pain on his face was enough that Albert was afraid Hoyt was
going to let go of the rope.

Still, Hoyt hung on.

Albert leaped from one pillar to the next one, dropping four feet before he landed. He took a deep breath and leaped again, this time jumping the four feet up to land onto the next pillar.

“HURRY UP!” Slink shouted from behind him. “He's going to fall!”

Albert worked as quickly as he could, using the Jackalope symbol to leap over the gaps the Hammerfins had caused. The wind was blowing as fiercely as a hurricane, and once, Albert almost toppled over.

But one final shout from Hoyt, full of fear, was all Albert needed to carry on.

He made it to the pillar closest to Hoyt. Hoyt hung there, about seven feet away. “Help me!” Hoyt shouted. “
Please
.”

The plan formed in Albert's mind almost instantly. He'd never done this before. In fact, he hadn't even
practiced
this symbol, and he wasn't sure if he had the right image in his mind.

But there it was, like a rubber band stretched tight.

The Stretch symbol.
I need longer arms, Tile. Please, help me save Hoyt.

Albert's arms tingled. He felt like he'd just dunked them into icy cold water, and Albert watched, amazed, as his arms grew. They stretched as if they were made of
rubber, slowly lengthening until they were twice as long as normal.

The whole world slowed down around Albert as he knelt on his pillar and reached his arm toward Hoyt.

He was still not close enough.

“You have to come closer,” Albert said to Hoyt. “Inch your way, slowly, one hand at a time.”

“I can't!” Hoyt's voice was high pitched.

Albert stared into Hoyt's eyes. “You have to, Hoyt. Just pretend we're in the Pit. If you fall, it's no big deal, right? There's a trampoline floor to send you right back up.”

Hoyt closed his eyes tight. Slowly, he moved his hands a little to the right, toward Albert.

“Good,” Albert chided. “You're doing good. Keep coming.”

Albert noticed a strange popping sound, almost like the crackling of a fire.

He looked past Hoyt, to the boulder where he had originally tied the first end of the rope.

It was fraying, strands of it popping away one by one.

“Okay, Hoyt, you gotta move
now
,” Albert said. He tried to keep his voice calm and collected. Hoyt picked up the pace, but only a little.

Another ray flew into the air, so close to Hoyt's head that he screamed. But the fear made Hoyt move a little faster, and he was a few inches closer to Albert.

“Just a little bit closer, and I can reach you,” Albert said.

There was another
pop!
The fibers of the rope were fraying even faster. Hoyt started to sink lower as the rope sagged beneath his weight. It was going to snap.

“Hoyt, you've got to move faster than this!” Albert shouted. “Use your Speed Tile!”

Behind him, everyone screamed a warning.

“Grab my hand!!” Albert shouted.

The rope snapped, and Hoyt fell.

A
lbert had never imagined he'd have to save Hoyt someday. They'd always been enemies, from the very beginning. Last term, Albert might not have risked his life for Hoyt's.

But now, as Albert lay on his stomach on a pillar hundreds of feet in the air, his extra-long arms screaming from pain as he gripped Hoyt and held him over the chasm, Albert knew that what he'd done was right.

“Pull me up!” Hoyt shouted from below.

Albert felt like his arm was about to rip out of the socket. He gritted his teeth and screamed, then pulled with all his might. Hoyt was just too heavy, and Albert's palms were slippery with sweat.

Strength.
The word popped into Albert's mind, and he latched onto it. The Strength symbol appeared, and
Albert's Master Tile kicked into gear. Suddenly Albert felt strong enough to lift Hoyt over his head.

Albert hauled Hoyt up and onto the pillar. Hoyt collapsed against Albert, and the pillar was so small that they had to lean together, arms over each other's shoulders, to stay balanced.

“You,” Hoyt said, gasping for air. “You
saved
me.”

Albert felt ready to collapse, but he stood strong and steady, letting Hoyt lean on him. “It was the only thing to do.”

“That's twice now,” Hoyt said. “Why do you keep saving me, after I've been such a jerk all this time?”

The wind howled, and a Lightning Ray leaped. Albert and Hoyt ducked together, then stood back up again.

“Saving people is what Balance Keepers do,” Albert said. He looked sideways at Hoyt. “We've got to move now. The others are waiting, and we're not out of danger.”

Hoyt nodded, still trying to catch his breath.

Albert had turned to look ahead, to figure out a plan for getting the rest of the way across, when Hoyt spoke again.

“Thank you,” Hoyt said. He stared at Albert with a strange softness in his eyes that had never been there before. “I didn't deserve it.”

Albert shrugged, and what he said next came from his heart of hearts. “Everyone deserves saving, Hoyt. Even the bad guys.”

Albert told Hoyt his plan, and together they leaped
across the remaining pillars, using Albert's Master Tile to cross the gaps from the Hammerfins, and Hoyt's Speed Tile to do it quickly.

Eventually, with the cheers of Birdie, Leroy, Slink, and Mo, both Albert and Hoyt made it to the safety of the other side.

The Counter on Albert's wrist said they only had ten hours left before the fate of the world ended in darkness and doom.

They walked until Albert's feet throbbed. His stomach ached from hunger, so they stopped and ate granola bars that Leroy had stuffed into his backpack. In the distance, the outline of the Silver Sea was the only thing the Balance Keepers had as their guide.

At the nine-hour mark, they crossed another rope bridge. This one was just as rickety as the first, like it was made of toothpicks and floss. Crossing it lasted almost an hour. Every step they took caused more wooden planks to snap or fall.

Just as the last of them stepped off, the rope bridge fell.

“How are we supposed to get back?” Birdie asked. “Everything we've crossed has basically been destroyed.”

Leroy shrugged. “Don't ask me.”

“We'll worry about that after we settle the Imbalance,” Albert said.

Everyone was tired and windblown. Hoyt hadn't
spoken since the accident at the Path of Pillars, and Albert was starting to wonder if the guy was in shock.

At the eight-hour mark, they used another rope to hop across a shorter passage of pillars, and nearly lost Birdie to a Lightning Ray attack. The rays had doubled in number. They managed to paralyze both of Birdie's legs with their electric shock. Birdie only made it to safety because Slink stepped in and grabbed her just before she fell into the chasm.

After that, Albert noticed that something had changed between Birdie and Slink. Birdie looked right into his eyes to thank him, her previous shyness having melted away. Slink offered to carry Birdie piggyback style until she was able to walk again, and they chatted nonstop.

The farther they journeyed, the closer they got to the Silver Sea. At the seven-hour mark, they finally made it, stopping on a cliff that overlooked the center of the Realm.

Albert gasped. It was just as Professor Asante had promised.

The Silver Sea was like polished dimes, the water shimmering and bright, even as it churned. It was perfectly circular in shape, and it spanned at least two miles across.

“It's breathtaking,” Birdie gasped. “And more than a little scary.”

“You can say that again,” Mo agreed.

Slink set Birdie down on the rocky cliff. “I can't believe we made it,” he said.

The Silver Sea was a sight in itself, but the real masterpieces were the Ten Pillars.

They stood at least fifteen stories high, and each one was as wide around as a tour bus. They were arranged in a perfect circle, each Pillar about thirty feet away from the next one. They spun so fast that when Albert tried to pick out the individual Pillars, all he saw was a blur. Their color was a deep, dark chocolate. Using his Flight Vision to get in closer, Albert could also see the large holes in the Pillars' sides—though he didn't see any Jackalopes.

He let go of the Flight Vision and returned to gazing from the cliff. He confirmed what he suspected—there were no bridges from this cliff out to the Pillars—it was just hundreds of yards of Silver Sea between them and the Pillars.

“We made it this far,” Albert said, sitting with his knees to his chest. “We should rest for a few minutes before we climb down.”

“That's the best thing you've said all day,” Leroy said as he flopped down onto his back and stared up at the sky.

Everyone sat in a circle, happy to get a few moments of rest after the long journey, but Hoyt crossed to the edge of the cliff and sat alone. His legs dangled over the edge.

“Wake me up when it's time,” Leroy said. “I need a power nap.” He rolled onto his side. Even with the howling wind, his snores could be heard within seconds.

“So what's the game plan?” Birdie asked. She was rubbing her legs, trying to get feeling back into them.

“We need to climb down this cliff first,” Mo said. His face was covered in dirt and grime. Albert knew he probably looked just as filthy.

“The water is going to be freezing,” Slink added. “We should start mentally preparing for that.”

Albert wanted to stay and talk, but his mind was elsewhere. He stood up and crossed the cliff to where Hoyt was sitting.

“Mind if I join you?” Albert asked.

Hoyt shrugged.

Albert sat down beside Hoyt and took off his boots. It had never felt better to have his feet free. He let his legs hang over the edge of the cliff.

“Are you all right, man?” Albert asked.

Hoyt hadn't said a word since Albert saved him.

I've befriended Slink and Mo
, Albert thought.
There has to be hope for Hoyt and me.

Albert was afraid, with the way Hoyt was acting now, that Hoyt wouldn't be able to perform to the very best of his abilities once they were in the Silver Sea and climbing the Ten Pillars. Albert needed to get Hoyt talking. He needed to help him stay focused.

But Hoyt spoke first. “I've never liked you, Flynn. From the first day you set foot in the Core, I've considered you an enemy.”

Albert readied himself for whatever rude thing Hoyt was about to say next.

But Hoyt turned to Albert and smiled. “It's because you're a great Balance Keeper. And I don't like to be shown up by anyone.”

Albert laughed. “I'm just the same as everyone else in the Core.”

In the harsh light of Ponderay, Hoyt's hair looked orange-black, positively Halloweenish. He shrugged. “You're different. You can't deny that, especially with that Master Tile around your neck.”

Albert looked down at his black Tile. For so long, he'd hated it, and wished he'd plucked something else out of the Waterfall of Fate. But now that Albert had learned to use his Tile, it had become a lifesaver.

“We don't have to be friends,” Hoyt said. “But we can be cool with each other. You saved me, which means I owe you one.”

“Nah, you don't,” Albert said, but Hoyt held out his hand.

“I'm saying thanks,” Hoyt said, chuckling. “Accept it.”

They shook hands, and just then, Albert was struck by an incredible amount of respect for the Realm of Ponderay. If they hadn't come here, Albert and Hoyt would
still be enemies. Now, things were changing, and it was the Realm that had made it all happen.

“You ready for this?” Albert asked.

The wind blew, and Hoyt shivered. “Ready as I'll ever be, I guess.”

“We should get everyone together,” Albert suggested. “And start planning. It's time to move on.”

Albert and Hoyt turned back to the group, only to find that Birdie, Slink, and Mo had fallen asleep, too.

Albert looked at Hoyt. “We could probably use the rest. I'll take the first watch and wake you up in an hour. Sound good?”

Hoyt nodded, and lay down near Mo.

Albert looked around. Even with his friends asleep, there was a determination that hadn't been there before. They were a real team now, and despite all the danger they'd faced, despite everything that had happened today, all the close calls and arguments and fear, Albert was happy.

Beneath the happiness was something else, something that made Albert wonder if he'd be able to nap at all.

Excitement.