Breeze couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen anything so beautiful before. He was used to buildings constructed from adobe and concrete as the desert was unforgiving and didn’t lend itself to amazing architecture.
“The campus is amazing,” he said to Excort.
The dwarf shrugged. “Looks can be deceiving.”
They drifted off the road and onto a path that seemed to stretch forever. Either side of it was lined with an impenetrable mixture of palm and ficus trees.
After several minutes, the hover coasted to a halt before a pair of massive gates. Breeze looked up at the canopy of sky high ficus that draped them from the glare of the sun. The powerful humidity made his skin feel as if it were steaming under his clothes, and sweat trickled down his face.
Excort pulled up to a console and typed in a series of codes onto a keypad. The gates didn’t budge.
“Shouldn’t you just get out and push them open?” Breeze said.
“I’ll do something better.” Excort eased the hover forward and pushed the nose of the vehicle against the gates. The gates bowed slightly inward, then sprang back, slamming into the hover and causing it to drift away.
Excort grumbled as he mashed down the throttle and bumped the gates repeatedly until they gave way with a squeal of grinding metal.
“Going to have to oil up the gears on that gate when I get the chance,” the dwarf muttered.
They whooshed down the path under an expansive canopy of towering ficus. Lining the path were statues and monuments nestled beneath heavy moss and vegetation.
The path merged into a wide boulevard lined with buildings, whose unique architecture lay hidden under a thick covering of ficus and vines. Breeze knew trying to enter any of them would require cutting equipment to hack through the heavy overgrowth just to get to the doors.
The boulevard broadened into a plaza with a brickwork surface overrun with weeds and littered with the remains of broken down machines
Ahead lay the majestic tower that Breeze had seen earlier. As the hover sped toward it, his disappointment grew with each passing second. The tower was a faded beauty, like the rest of the buildings on campus, with a limestone and coquina structure that was chipped and broken. Huge cracks rippled through the façade, and heavy moss was everywhere, growing in clumps and patches over the entire building.
The hover pulled up before the massive stairway the led up into the tower. Breeze unbuckled his harness and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He stood up on his seat and jumped out.
“What kind of place is this? Is it a school or an abandoned city? And where is everybody? Did they run away after getting a good look at this place?” Breeze said as he looked around.
Excort didn’t answer as he pulled luggage out of the trunk of the hover. The vehicle gradually rose as it was being unloaded.
An automated cart slowly approached them from an alcove next to the stairway. Its tires were nearly flat, and its electrical motor whined in protest. The cart sporadically hesitated and stopped, until it finally arrived at the hover and bumped into it. That sent the hover drifting away and prompting an outburst of expletives from the dwarf. He ran to the hover and dragged it back to the pile of luggage, then kicked the automated cart, which made it squeak loudly and spin into ever widening circles away from the hover until it finally came to a stop. This made Excort even more agitated. He stomped over to it and opened a panel on its side and began toggling switches. The cart come back to life and rolled toward the pile of luggage.
Breeze shook his head at the sight of it all when he noticed a canal that fronted the tower and walked over to it. He could smell the briny salt water as he looked straight through it to the sandy bottom where reef fish flitted about coral heads. A smile crept across his face as he looked on in awe. He had never seen a fish before.
He heard grumbling and cursing coming from the hover and turned to look. Excort was trying to load the last piece of luggage, a duffel bag with an oversized strap, onto the cart. The cart shrilled with loud beeps and whoops when he did, prompting him to curse and remove the bag which ended the noise. He kicked the cart angrily and again placed the bag onto it which immediately erupted with alarms. The dwarf cursed even louder as he removed the bag and dropped it to the ground. He gave the cart another kick and pointed to the building with a disgusted grunt. The cart responded with a chirp as it trundled away.
Excort grabbed the duffel bag, hoisted it onto his shoulder and began walking toward the tower. “If his highness is ready, he can follow me to the dormitories.”
“I can carry the bag myself, you know.” Breeze offered.
“Follow me!” Excort shouted.
Breeze jogged to catch up to him. “When do I get to meet Oslo? And where are the other students? Am I the only one here?”
“Questions!” the dwarf shouted and waved him off. He then muttered loudly to himself. “Who does his highness think he is? ‘Where’s Oslo?’ ‘Where are the other students?’ Bothersome youth. No patience.”
“Why do you keep calling me ‘your highness’?” Breeze asked.
Excort ignored him and kept trudging forward.
Breeze followed the dwarf up the steps and into the tower. He stopped and his jaw dropped at the grand and magnificent hall with its domed, stained glass ceiling with ornate and intricate designs adorning it. The hall was in the shape of a rotunda, with multiple hallways that led deep into the building like spokes on a wheel, and stacked up to five levels. Some hallways he could see straight down while others were poorly lit with flickering light.
Breeze stared at the stained glass ceiling that filtered sunlight into a prism when he heard the sound of splashing water coming from the center of the rotunda. He ran over and leaned against a gold railing that lined a circular pool recessed deep below. He looked down and saw a myriad of fish flitting about a coral reef. His eyes scanned the water wondering what the source of the splash was.
He marveled at the giant heads of coral and the fish that orbited them like satellites when he caught a flicker of movement from behind one the bigger coral heads and leaned dangerously over the railing to peer down. He caught a pair of eyes looking back at him for a fleeting moment, and then disappeared. He stretched over the railing, straining to get a better look.
“Follow!” the dwarf bellowed from deep within a hallway.
Breeze pointed to the pool and started to say something, but thought better of it and raced to catch up to Excort.
Deep in the pool, a lone figure emerged from the shadows of the reef. The sunlight pouring through the ceiling revealed a young girl raising her hand to Breeze as he turned to leave. She lowered it and faded back into the shadows.
Breeze breathed heavily as he struggled to catch up. The dwarf walked amazingly fast as they marched down a hallway that merged into an open breezeway. To the left were rows of doors with a window between each one. To the right was a balcony that overlooked the campus facing the west. Breeze felt compelled to stop and take in the view. Off in the distance he could see the hangars of the landing facility bordered by the swaying palm forest, and the white capped waves crashing onto the beach. He knew right then and there he was far from home.
“Dormitories!” Excort shouted, shattering the moment. He stopped before one of the doors along the breezeway and kicked it in with a stubby leg. It flung open and he hurled the duffel bag into the room just before the door hit the wall and bounced off it to slam shut.
“Hey!” Breeze hollered at the cranky dwarf. “Can’t I even take a look at my room?”
“Orientation!” Excort shouted and pointed down the breezeway.
Breeze followed him as his anger began to build. He caught up to the dwarf, still not understanding how someone so short could walk so fast.
The breezeway came to an end at a set of stairs that led downward
in a spiral. Breeze felt hemmed in as the stairwell grew narrow and a few times he almost lost his footing on the mildew covering the limestone steps. The smell of saltwater became stronger with every step he took.
The stairs ended abruptly in darkness when Excort opened a door that led into a dimly lit corridor that was lined with floor to ceiling panels on either side. Some were open while most were sealed shut. The few open ones were empty, save for a few scraps of debris on the floor while others were stacked with old machines and electronics or chairs and tables.
They continued on until they reached the end. Excort typed into a keypad and a panel hissed up into a recess.
“Boy, somebody could get hurt if that door were to slide down too fast,” Breeze said.
“Then you better hurry up and enter,” Excort growled.
Breeze scurried into a room that was musty and old, just like everything else he encountered on campus. The walls were lined with racks of old electronics. Some were operating while others were dormant. The few that were active emitted low pitched warbles and beeps. Display screens showed lines waving back and forth that disappeared from view, then reappeared.
Breeze was dying to find out what the instruments were monitoring. He turned to ask Excort, but the disgusted look on the dwarf’s face deterred him. I’ll wait and ask Oslo- if I ever get to meet him, Breeze thought to himself.
In the center of the room was a long, rectangular table lined with reclining swivel chairs on caster wheels. Breeze picked one chair at random and sat down. The chair creaked loudly when he leaned back, and he sat up quickly, slapping his hands on the table.
Excort stood by the panel, his face devoid of expression as he glared at Breeze.
Breeze got up and sat in the next chair. The creaking from it sounded like a shriek, and he stood up abruptly to stare at it.
He walked over to the other side of the table, hoping to find a seat that wasn’t so quick to protest anyone sitting in it, but each chair he tried produced the same result. His quest took him to the head of the table and the very last seat. He sat down and leaned back. Silence.
He brought his hands to the back of his head and placed his feet on the table. A triumphant smile appeared on his face until the chair collapsed and he was unceremoniously dumped to the floor. He scrambled to his feet to pick up the pieces of the broken chair when he stopped to look at Excort.
The dwarf sighed and shook his head in disgust, then casually stepped aside as the panel slid up and in walked a man of incredible height. He had to lower his head as he stepped in yet he appeared to glide as he brushed past Excort without a glance. He went directly to the head of the table and looked at Breeze.
“Hello, Breeze Corinth, and welcome to Perihelion. My name is Ole Auken, but please, call me Oslo,” he said in a baritone voice. He sat down in a chair provided by Excort and leaned back. Not a squeak was heard.
Breeze stood and stared at him while holding the remnants of his broken chair. He had never seen a man so tall with a voice so deep. Oslo wore a military uniform complete with medals and medallions that adorned the left side of his coat. On his right arm was a triangular patch with a circle inside and several smaller circles orbiting it. He had a long face with piercing blue eyes. His white hair was short, and his skin was pale.
Breeze realized he was staring, and it dawned upon him that he was holding pieces of his chair. He started to place them on the table but stopped when he noticed Oslo and Excort watching his every move. Oslo’s face barely contained his amusement while Excort just gave and icy stare. He slowly lowered the pieces to the table.
“Never mind the chair, Breeze. We have plenty of chairs in storage and besides, Excort can fix it,” Oslo said reassuringly.
“Sure, add it to my list,” the dwarf grumbled.
“Very good! Breeze, follow me to my office. It is far more pleasant there, and we have much to discuss.” Oslo stood up and seemingly glided out of the room, taking time to pat Excort on the head as he passed by. Excort shot him an angry glare.
The dwarf turned to see Breeze looking at him. “Yes, you can follow him. That’s the idea.” He made an exaggerated motion toward the door.
Breeze smiled as he walked around the table and raised a hand as he drew close to Excort.
“Don’t even try it.” The dwarf snarled at him.
He stepped into the corridor to find Oslo was already at the end of it and he had to race to catch up.
Breeze stepped into Oslo’s office and was stunned, for it was probably the first room on the entire campus that had some semblance of order. There were a pair of glass double doors leading out to a balcony that overlooked the bay. The walls were filled from side to side and top to bottom with rows of books. Some sections had entire volumes that were collected and placed neatly on the shelves while others had a myriad of books covering various and diverse subjects. The floor was wooden, and a stark contrast to the tile and stone that was found throughout the campus and the ceiling had gigantic wooden beams that stretched across it. His eyes dropped down to the oversized wooden desk where sitting proudly on a corner was a lamp in the shape of a sailor. He was wearing a yellow raincoat and a hat with one hand on a wooden helm, while the other was over his brow, and shielding his eyes from some imaginary downpour as they looked deep into the distance searching for something.
Oslo sat down behind his desk and motioned for Breeze to do the same. Breeze plopped himself down in one of the two high back chairs that fronted the desk.
“Breeze, how was your journey here? Uneventful, I hope?”
He pondered the question. So much had happened since he left home he didn’t know where to start. “Well, now that you mention it sir, an awful lot happened. But what really bothers me is that I don’t even know how I got here.” He recounted to Oslo his experience of waking up on the ship feeling disoriented after entering the vortex.
Oslo nodded his head slowly as his eyes narrowed. “Breeze, what you experienced is what we call time dilation, or time stop. You see—”
“Yeah, that’s what Excort said when I first met him!” Breeze interrupted excitedly.
Oslo smiled with great patience. He had to be forgiving. Breeze was far away from home and great changes were coming his way. “Yes, of course he did,” Oslo nodded and continued. “This island is unique. So unique that security measures have been taken as to who and what can enter. Let’s just say we consider our students to be extra special and we take precautions to protect them.” Oslo finished with a wink.
“Well, I don’t want to be special,” Breeze said, “but that’s what brought me here in the first place. And you still haven’t answered my question. How exactly did I get here?”
Oslo nodded. “The loss of time and the subsequent disorientation you felt is the result of traveling through the fog, as we like to call it. This island cannot be found on any map or chart because of it. Let’s just say one has to know the way to get here, or you will forever be lost within the fog. You experienced a brief bit of time travel. The vortex you traveled through connected you from where you were,” he held up one hand, then another, “to where you are now.”
Breeze stared at him blankly. “So, where are we?”
Oslo tapped the surface of his desk and a holographic display of a globe materialized. He pointed to a land mass that was comprised of two continents connected by a thin strip of land. “This is the Americas. We are located off the eastern coast of this continent.” He pointed to a space in the ocean that was east of a peninsula that jutted out from the northern continent. “We are here, and yet, we are not. Time is not like a long flowing river but one that bends and curves along the way. It may even flow downward like a waterfall. We are sitting at the bottom of a waterfall and behind its cascading waters. We flow down to come here, we have to flow up to return. It’s safe for us here. Look at it this way; we are tucked into
a corner where no one can bother us.”
Breeze shrugged. “But why? Why all the secrecy? What are you trying to hide?”
Oslo looked him in the eye. “You.”
“But I’m no one special, I—”
Oslo help up a hand and shook his head. “Son, take a good look at yourself. Is what you are able to do normal? You can fly! How many of your fellow students at your school can do that?”
“If they have the same kind of father I do, I wouldn’t know.”
“And why do you think your father makes you hide your gift of flight?”
“Because he’s jealous of what I can do. Because he’s stuck dealing with scrap metal while he knows I can be something more.” Breeze could feel the shame of what he just said creep in before he even finished.
“Breeze, your father sent you here for your own benefit,” Oslo said quietly.
Breeze exploded. “Well, I didn’t want to come here! Nobody asked me!”
“You like to fly, yes? At Perihelion, I will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about your gifts. Here, you can reach your full potential. Here, you can fly to your heart’s content. I will make it happen for you, but you have to let go of your anger toward your father. He truly wants what’s best for you.”
Oslo stood up and walked around the desk to sit next to Breeze. “Look, the world is not a safe place, but you know that already. The lands between the cities can be dangerous. These… Bad Lands are inhabited by strange people and even stranger creatures. Stay here with us, Breeze. Stay here with your fellow students. Learn. Learn everything you can. Then, return home and become a leader and the inspiration you were meant to be.”
“Speaking of other students, where are they? Why do I get the feeling I’m the only one here?” Breeze asked.
Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter Page 10