The Pillars of Ponderay

by Lindsay Cummings

  Albert shivered at the very thought of it.

  The Professors hadn’t seen a Master Tile in centuries. Surely, if they had, they would’ve said something to Albert. It wasn’t a big secret. Everyone in the Core knew about his Tile. Everyone was amazed by it.

  “I don’t believe there’s someone out there who’d want to use these horrible symbols,” Albert said. He motioned to the black box.

  “Except for the person who set up the Imbalances,” Leroy whispered.

  His words hit Albert right in the gut. Had they just come across evidence that could help the Professors discover their enemy? Then another thought occurred to Albert, one that he felt guilty just thinking, let alone saying aloud. “What if one of the Professors was the one who created the Imbalance? Think about it. They’re the most talented people in the Core. They know everything about the Realms.”

  Birdie shifted from one foot to another. “I don’t think so, Albert. They defend the Core.”

  “But it’s the perfect cover,” Leroy said. “No one would suspect them.”

  Birdie held up a hand. “We’re jumping to conclusions. Right now, we need to focus on this Book of Bad Tiles.”

  “Birdie’s right,” Albert said. “The book exists. Someone wrote these things in it. Someone knows how to use them. Hey, maybe we could even catch them in the act and save the day.”

  Albert had meant it as a joke, but suddenly Leroy stiffened. “We could,” he whispered.

  Leroy and Birdie leaned in to hear his plan.

  Leroy explained that there was a pair of special Tiles in Lucinda’s shop. They were Homing Tiles, sold at a very high price. One Tile was to be worn around someone’s neck at all times. The other Tile was to be hidden with whatever someone wanted to track. When the Homing Tile sensed the object or person moving location, it would alert the Tile that was around the wearer’s neck.

  It was the perfect plan. From what Leroy had gathered, no one had come to check out those top-shelf books in months. If motion was detected, it was likely it would be the owner of the blackened box retrieving their secret treasure.

  “I can start playing more Tiles competitions again,” Leroy suggested. “We all know I’ll win, and we could save up enough coins to buy the Homing Tiles from the shop.”

  “That’s brilliant, Leroy!” Birdie clapped her hands. “Albert, what do you think?”

  Albert shuddered. The right thing to do would be to take the box to his dad’s office. He could feel it. But with all of the trouble going on inside the Core, maybe handing over this box would just cause more stress for the Professors. Albert remembered the Path Hider’s warning, from their first day back.

  Trust no one.

  Albert trusted his dad, wholeheartedly. But he didn’t want to bog Professor Flynn down with more troubles.

  “We can try the Homing Tiles,” Albert decided. “But if anything else goes wrong, we should turn the box in.”

  “This is like a total sting operation!” Birdie giggled.

  “A what?” Leroy’s eyes were wide.

  “You know, like those cop shows, where they set up the criminal and catch him in the act.”

  They fantasized about saving the day, outsmarting the person causing all of the Imbalances. Leroy climbed back to the top of the bookshelf, dust dancing around him, and put the box with the Book of Bad Tiles back where they’d found it. He even covered it up in dust again, so it looked like no one had touched it.

  “We’ll get the Homing Tiles soon,” Leroy promised. “And we’ll settle this once and for all. Imagine going into the Realm and settling the Imbalance, then catching this guy in the act when we get back. We’d be heroes for sure, dudes.”

  They laughed as they headed from the shelves with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts.

  They didn’t know that someone had seen everything, watching from the shadows in silence.

  Farnsworth led the way back, with his little paws padding on the hard floor. They’d barely made it out of the Library when shouts rang out from the hallway. The double doors burst open, and Balance Keepers sprinted inside.

  It was Hoyt, Slink, and Mo. Hoyt held the box over his head, laughing as a few other teams chased him, trying to steal it before he reached home base. But Argon made it, winning the Core Hunt. Another thing to raise Hoyt’s ego. It was so big by now, Albert wouldn’t be surprised if it burst.

  Hydra stuck around as the Apprentices came back and announced Argon winner. Everyone left, ready to get a few hours of sleep before the Pit tomorrow.

  On their way back through the Main Chamber, Albert stopped to glance up at the countdown clock.

  The glowing number 36 shone down on him, as red as blood.

  CHAPTER 20

  The Shock Wave

  The next day, it seemed that luck was finally on Hydra’s side. When they arrived in the Pit and rode their platform down, everything looked as it normally had in the days before. It was the same towering ten pillars, same freezing-cold water and dangerous hurricane-worthy wind.

  Professor Asante was present for this competition, sitting on the edge of the Pit in her wheelchair, a notebook in her lap, a pen poised and ready to scribble furiously. There was a massive crowd today. It seemed that every Pure and worker in the Core had come to watch the competition. Albert swallowed a lump in his throat.

  Even his dad was there watching, which made Albert happy. As long as Professor Flynn wasn’t in Ponderay, he was safe. Trey sat beside him. As was usual lately, Trey was furiously flipping through a stack of papers. What’s all that about? Albert wondered. Petra was in the very front row, and today he was wearing a blue shirt to match Hydra’s, though it looked like he’d written the logo himself. Farnsworth raced across the edge of the Pit and leaped into Petra’s lap.

  Tussy sat beside Petra, and when she saw Hydra arrive, she stood and walked to the edge of the Pit. Albert noticed that her shoulder was bandaged. Her hair was messy in that just-been-to-the-beach sort of way that girls always seemed to covet. Albert had a feeling the state of Tussy’s hair wasn’t a fashion statement, though, and he was right.

  “Balance Keepers—as you know, since Professor Asante injured her leg, Professor Flynn and I have been entering Ponderay in her place, seeking to learn more about the Means to Restore Balance.” Tussy lowered the MegaHorn, as if her arm needed a rest from just holding it up. She took a deep breath and continued.

  “Early this morning, we made it farther than Professor Asante did.” Tussy shot a quick glance at Professor Asante and quickly added, “Though we couldn’t have made it this far without her efforts before us.”

  Professor Asante nodded and Tussy continued.

  “This morning, we made it across the Silver Sea and summited two of the Pillars.”

  There was a gasp in the crowd. Albert shared a look with Birdie and Leroy. No wonder Tussy was tired. And his dad had actually been on top of the Ten Pillars? He suddenly had an image of his dad’s sparkling green jacket flying out behind him like a cape in the winds of Ponderay. It was a funny and scary image at the same time.

  “Professor Flynn and I further confirmed something Professor Asante and the Watchers had suspected—the Tiles on top of the Pillars are marked. The two we found each had a different symbol than the rectangle Professor Asante found—we are now confident that each of the ten Tiles has a different symbol.” She held up one of the Pit Tiles, which now had a blue triangle on it, then quickly lowered it, again like she hardly had strength to hold it up. Professor Flynn took over.

  “On a hunch, Tussy and I traded two of the Tiles in their Pillar slots, and we think we felt the rotations of the Pillars slow just a bit. That’s all we were able to do, though, before the creatures became so aggressive we thought it best to turn back. The work is too much, and far too dangerous, for only two people.”

  Leroy leaned over to Albert. “Maybe them switching up two Tiles is why the tremors off the coast of California have calmed this morning.”

  Alber
t nodded, eager for them to go on.

  “We are now assuming,” his dad continued, “that each Tile is marked with a symbol that somehow matches each Pillar, and that correctly placing each Tile in its appropriate Pillar will stop the spinning. We believe this matching of Tile and Pillars is the Means to Restore Balance.”

  There was a murmur in the crowd, a collective sigh of relief. Albert felt a weight off his own shoulders—at least now they knew what they’d have to do if they entered Ponderay.

  “Your challenge today, Balance Keepers, is to gather the Tiles on top of each pillar and put them into the matching slots, eventually stopping the spinning. The team who matches the most Tiles with pillars will win, earning ten points. We’ve marked each Tile, as well as each Pillar. However, since we still don’t know how the Ten Pillars are marked, we’re not telling you how we’ve marked these Pit pillars. You’ll need your best observation skills in Ponderay to figure that out—it would be wise to start using those skills now.” Professor Flynn took a deep breath. Albert could tell he, too, was exhausted from his time in the Realm. He knew from last term that Professors’ and Apprentices’ bodies weren’t fit to handle too much time in the Realms. They were both bound to the Core, and as a result, lost a great deal of their strength once they entered the Realms.

  “As Professor Asante, Tussy, and I have discovered, the conditions in Ponderay are brutal—time will be of the essence. You’ll have seven minutes to collectively match at least five Tiles today. If you fail, the Pit and the clock will reset, and you’ll begin again.”

  “How is that helpful?!” Birdie asked under her breath, loud enough for Albert to hear. “They’ll completely exhaust us!”

  Albert just shrugged. It looked like they better get used to being exhausted.

  Tussy, who had sat down, handed Professor Flynn her whistle. He took another deep breath, brought the whistle to his lips, and blew it. The competition began.

  Water filled the Pit, and Albert had the sinking suspicion that the Core creatures were already beneath the surface, ready and waiting to stop any Balance Keeper from completing their task. Normally, Albert took the lead. But this wasn’t just about strength or skill. Today, this was about logic.

  Birdie was already on it. “I say we gather the Tiles and then put them in different pillars and hope it works out.”

  . . . Or maybe Birdie wasn’t on it.

  “That’ll take forever,” Albert said. “We’ve only got seven minutes. Leroy, you’re our Boy Einstein. What’s your plan?”

  “I know exactly how to start,” Leroy said, a huge grin on his face. He wiped off his glasses as water splashed around them in the wind. “The pillars have very, very tiny marks, on their sides, here at the bottom, in colors and shapes. I saw them before the pillars started spinning, right when we got here. It’ll be difficult now to decipher the marks at the speed those pillars are moving. But we can do it.”

  Birdie and Albert just stared at Leroy. Not a minute into the challenge and he’d already figured out the system for matching Tiles—unbelievable! Albert wondered why he himself hadn’t decided to just picture the Synapse symbol 100 percent of the time so he could share Leroy’s mad mental skills. He made a note to use that symbol more often. For now, he sprang into action.

  “I say we do what we did the other day. Use Birdie’s Water Tile and my Master Tile to get up to speed, and allow Leroy to see the colored markings on the sides of the pillars. Sound like a plan?”

  “Yes! And then we can all climb up and match the colored Tiles to their correct pillars!” Birdie exclaimed. She put her arms around the boys’ shoulders. “You two ready to rock this?”

  Leroy nodded. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Albert looked at the clock. A minute had already passed. It was time to speed things up.

  They set to work, swimming up to top speed, Albert with his Master Tile and the water droplet symbol in his mind, Birdie with her natural Water Tile abilities. They did exactly what they’d done the last time they were in the Pit. Albert swam on one side, and Birdie swam on the other, with Leroy in the middle. They were like a pod of dolphins racing as fast as their fins could take them.

  They were almost close enough to a pillar for Leroy to make out the marking when a fin appeared in the waves. It was a Hammerfin, and the creature chased Hydra round and round the Pit. They lost almost a full minute trying to avoid the giant creature. Finally, the Hammerfin seemed to lose interest and they got back to swimming as fast as they could go in hopes of deciphering which symbols were on each pillar.

  “Go, Hydra, go!” Petra cheered from above. Some people joined in with him, while others rooted for Argon. Farnsworth howled, and Albert saw a familiar flash of blue as his dog’s eyes lit up.

  Focus, Albert. Instead of launching Leroy onto a pillar like last time, when Hydra got close enough, Leroy simply looked for the colored marking on the pillars’ stony side.

  The first pillar was a yellow triangle.

  The second was a blue rhombus, and the third was a purple circle.

  On and on Albert and Birdie swam, carrying Leroy to each pillar so he could decipher and remember their individual marks. Leroy plotted them on a map in his mind.

  “I love your Synapse Tile!” Birdie shouted to Leroy, as Tussy yelled five minutes left.

  Suddenly, there was a flash of color, and Birdie yelped.

  “I think a Lightning Ray just got me! I can’t feel my left foot!”

  Her speed slowed a little, and Albert was forced to take on more of the weight. The disruption distracted him and he looked around to see what Argon was doing. Where was Hoyt? How far ahead were they? Had Argon figured out how the pillars were marked yet?

  But Albert silenced his mind and told himself this was about Hydra, not the other team. Today, he committed to focusing only on the task and his teammates. Nothing else mattered.

  By the time Tussy had yelled out four minutes left, Leroy had managed to note down all of the colored markings on the pillars.

  “Time to climb!” Albert shouted to his friends.

  They treaded water as the pillars spun by. Hoyt, Slink, and Mo were blurs at the top of the pillars as they passed at breakneck speeds.

  Albert and Birdie took off with Leroy in the middle again, and launched him onto a pillar. Then they started the climb.

  Albert’s hands and feet seemed to know what to do on their own. They found all the right holds, and in record time, he’d summited the first pillar.

  “Three minutes left!” Tussy shouted.

  We’re running out of time! Albert thought. Nerves seeped their way into his system, but he shook them off and hauled himself up and onto the top of his pillar. He rose to a crouch. The wind blasted him in the face, and threatened to knock him overboard. But he wouldn’t let it.

  Today, Hydra was going to win.

  Across from him, Birdie summited, and Leroy soon after. They all looked at one another.

  “Grab a Tile!” Albert shouted.

  They all grabbed the Tiles from their pillars. Across from Albert, Hoyt climbed on top of a pillar and grabbed a Tile of his own. He held it in the air and waved it around, a look of pure elation in his eyes. Then his face fell as he realized he had no idea what to do with the Tile—Argon still hadn’t figured out how the pillars were marked. Albert smiled.

  He turned to where Birdie was crouched on a pillar across from him.

  He closed his eyes and pictured Hoyt’s Speed Tile, and when he opened his eyes, Albert didn’t hesitate. He rose to his feet, sprinted across the top of his pillar in two strides, and leaped, landing on Birdie’s.

  “Now let’s get to Leroy!” Albert shouted.

  He grabbed Birdie’s hand, and with all the determination they could muster, the two of them leaped. They rolled to a stop on Albert’s pillar, then rose to their feet and leaped again, landing on Leroy’s.

  Hydra was back together again, and they had three Tiles.

  “Now what?” Birdie asked Le
roy.

  “We’ll match the corresponding Tiles to their pillars. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  They all crouched down together and braced themselves on hands and knees to help stay balanced against the raging winds. Their Tiles were marked. One of the Tiles was a blue rhombus.

  “I know exactly which pillar that is!” Leroy said. He tapped his head and grinned like a champion. “It’s three pillars to our right!”

  Together, Hydra stood, linking arms like they had seen Argon do the last time in the Pit.

  They readied themselves to leap, when a splash sounded from below. A Hammerfin, larger than they’d seen so far, leaped from the waves.

  “Jump!” Albert screamed.

  On the count of three, they leaped. The Hammerfin annihilated the pillar they’d just been on. They barely made it onto the next pillar. Leroy tumbled overboard, and it took quick reflexes, and a quick thought of the Strength symbol, for Albert to keep his friend from falling.

  Birdie helped haul Leroy back up.

  “Thanks, guys,” Leroy said. “You ready to leap?”

  “Ready,” Albert and Birdie said.

  They checked to make sure their Tiles were still tucked safely into their waistbands. Then they grabbed one another’s hands and leaped.

  Leroy called out when to jump, and they followed his orders, jumping far and wide until they had made it to the pillar that had the blue rhombus marking on its side.

  “You’re sure it’s this one?” Birdie asked.

  Leroy nodded. “Sure as sugar, dudes.”

  “What does that even mean?” Albert asked, but Leroy shook his head. Birdie pulled out the Tile from that pillar’s slot—it was a red heart—and then Leroy slammed the blue rhombus-marked Tile into the slot.

  Ding!

  “One Tile for Hydra!” Tussy shouted into the MegaHorn. Somewhere in the crowd, Farnsworth howled with pride. Petra shouted another cheer, and Professor Flynn stood up and fist-bumped the air.

  That was all Hydra needed. They’d figured out the markings and now they were going to win. Albert almost didn’t notice it—but as soon as they’d placed their Tile into its slot, the spinning pillars slowed. It was hardly a change, just a tiny drop in the wind, but it was there.