World's End

by Jake Halpern

  Leif nodded wearily, and his head drooped low between his bony shoulders. It was clear that he was still very weak. "I'll do my best to help," he said. "Any friends of Alfonso's are friends of mine."

  "So how we gonna get into Jasber?" asked Bilblox.

  "I only know of the gate that the sweepers use, which will be guarded," replied Marta. "They have orders to kill anyone they see who is not a sweeper, even a Great Sleeper. We wouldn't stand a chance there."

  "That's true," replied Leif. "It's a terrible thing. A Great Sleeper risks his or her life to get them their Founding Tree, and how do they repay this gift? Leaving them to rot in this miserable cottage."

  "So you don't know of any other way in?" Marta asked mournfully.

  "I don't think so," replied Leif with a shake of his head. "Here, take a look."

  He limped over to a corner of the cottage, opened an old wooden chest, and pulled out a large piece of parchment. It appeared to be a map of the labyrinth. Leif explained that he had copied this map from the lid of a rosewood box that he had found in Alexandria.

  "I had that same box lid, but Josephus and then Kiril took it!" exclaimed Alfonso. "But I didn't see any map on it."

  "That's because the map only appears when exposed to moonlight," explained Leif. He pointed out three landmarks on the map—the sweepers' entrance, a large lake, and an X at the center of the labyrinth. Leif explained that the X marked the spot where the cottage was located. Alfonso and Marta studied the map closely. The only writing of any kind on the map lay at the very bottom, where a set of Dormian hieroglyphs and the number 1109 were printed.

  "What's that writing at the bottom?" asked Alfonso.

  "It's probably the name of the person who made the map, and the year it was made," explained Marta.

  "I assume that we're talking about the Dormian year 1109?" asked Leif.

  "It would have to be," replied Alfonso.

  "So I was meant to deliver my plant here to the cottage," said Leif. "That's what the X is all about, you see? The Great Sleeper arrives in Alexandria, gets the box with seeds, hatches the plant, and then delivers it to the spot marked X." He shook his head. "I can't believe the Jasberians are so paranoid." He looked slyly at Alfonso. "They'd get along well with Pappy."

  "The Jasberians weren't always so fearful," interjected Marta.

  "What do you mean?" asked Leif.

  "Once upon a time the elders allowed Great Sleepers to enter Jasber," explained Marta. "There was even something called the Great Sleeper's Gate. But they closed it long ago."

  "She's right," said Alfonso. "I read about it in the book from Josephus's study. Here, I can show you the passage."

  Alfonso reached into his bag and pulled out the curious book titled Un Destin Solitaire: Les Dormeurs Géant de Jasber. He then flipped it open to the relevant page, read silently for a minute or so, and then offered a rough translation.

  "It says the Great Sleeper's Gate was closed in the Dormian year 2021 and that both the labyrinth and the cottage were completed five years later, in the year 2026," explained Alfonso.

  Leif furrowed his brow. "That's odd. It means that the map on the rosewood box is older than this cottage." He looked at Alfonso. "It's older by almost a thousand years!"

  "Why does that matter?" asked Alfonso.

  Leif and Bilblox both smiled.

  "What yer old man is sayin'," said Bilblox, "is that the Jasberians had Great Sleepers coming to this exact spot long before there was ever a cottage here. So, Leif, what do ya reckon was here before the cottage?"

  "I have a hunch," said Leif with a sudden grin. "I'd be willing to bet that the Jasberians simply built the cottage right over the place where the Great Sleeper's Gate once stood. It makes sense. It would be an easy fix for them. That way they wouldn't have to go back to Alexandria to change the map."

  "So you're sayin' that the Great Sleeper's Gate is in the cottage?" asked Alfonso.

  Leif nodded in a deliberate manner. He still looked weak and sickly, but his blue-gray eyes flashed with excitement. Alfonso smiled and fought back a sudden welling of emotion. It was a look he'd thought he would never see again.

  "Come on," said Leif. "There is something I want to show you."

  ***

  Leif led the way down a set of winding stone stairs that descended into the basement of the cottage. It was dark and gloomy, but Leif carried a lantern, and in the light of its flickering glow one thing was apparent: the basement was cavernous. Alfonso had assumed that a small cottage would have a small basement. Not so. The basement resembled a cave with its high ceiling and rough-hewn walls that looked as if they had been chiseled with pickaxes. The cave smelled dank and the air was alive with the sound of nesting bats. There was also a faint gurgling noise, as if a very small stream were running somewhere nearby.

  "What is this place?" asked Bilblox. His voice echoed several times off the walls of the cave. "Doesn't seem like a basement."

  "Strange, isn't it?" asked Leif as he limped onward. "Follow me—you'll want to see this."

  They continued farther into the darkness of the cave and, as they walked, the sound of gurgling water grew louder. The floor glistened with dampness and soon they came to a place where several large piles of stones were stacked on either side of a tiny marble door built into the wall of the cave. The door had a small slot in the center almost like a mail slot, only thinner and longer. Tiny rivulets of water trickled from the cave through an opening at the bottom of the door, and then presumably downward into whatever lay beyond the door.

  "I noticed that the water was trickling downward, so I spent eight solid months moving these stones," explained Leif. "Eventually I found this doorway. Imagine my disappointment when it was another dead end. I convinced myself it wasn't that big of a deal. Never in a million years would I have guessed that it might lead the way into Jasber."

  "Does the door open?" asked Alfonso.

  "Watch," replied Leif. Leif reached into the heavy blue robe he was wearing and pulled out a thin slab of wood. Alfonso recognized it immediately. It was the lid to the rosewood box. Leif took the wooden lid, inserted it into the slot in the center of the door, and then withdrew it. There was a click and then the door swung open.

  They walked inside and saw why Leif had been so disappointed. A massive boulder about twenty feet into the passageway prevented anyone except for a small animal or water to pass through. "I've tried to push it forward, but it won't budge," explained Leif. "I also used my powers of hypnogogia and tried to walk through the boulder, but I've learned that stone is the most difficult matter to pass through, and this particular boulder was simply too thick. And so, unfortunately, I have no idea how to dislodge this hunk of rock."

  "I know someone with the muscle to do it," said Alfonso with a smile.

  Bilblox cleared his throat and stepped forward. He sniffed the air and walked straight toward the boulder, with Kõrgu at his side. For several minutes, he used his fingers to probe every inch of the boulder, although he concentrated his attention on the openings between the boulder and the passageway. He then placed his massive hands on the boulder, sucked in a huge breath of air, dropped into a squat, grunted fiercely, and heaved every iota of force that he could muster into the boulder. The boulder rocked forward ever so slightly.

  "It'll move," said Bilblox confidently. "It'll take some work, but the water underfoot's been loosenin' it for a couple years. Alfonso, take a look along the sides and the bottom. Are there any rocks that I'm dislodgin'?"

  The longshoreman continued to press against the boulder, forcing it to rock in place. Meanwhile, Alfonso scurried around and pulled out rocks that had been wedged between the boulder and the tunnel. As he did so, the boulder began to slide, inch by inch. Bilblox immediately seized upon this momentum and continued pushing, rocking the boulder back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until a large chunk from the bottom of the boulder broke loose. This set free the massive hunk of stone and it began to roll down the passagew
ay. The rolling boulder continued into the darkened tunnel for a number of seconds until they all heard the sound of a distant impact.

  Marta ran down the passageway.

  "Marta!" yelled Alfonso. "Come back!"

  "It's okay," yelled Marta a few seconds later, her voice echoing in the dusty tunnel. "The boulder is broken into a hundred little pieces. It hit a wall where the passageway makes a turn. Let's go! We have to find my family!"

  The sound of her footsteps receded as she ran deeper into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 55

  THE LAKE

  BLOOD FLOWING FROM KIRIL'S CUTS dripped steadily to the ground and soaked much of his shirt and pants. It was hard to say how much blood he had lost, but far too much for comfort. It was only a matter of hours before he became too weak to carry on. Fortunately, he was almost at the lake.

  As he plodded onward, Kiril allowed his thoughts to drift back to his father and his father's stories of the labyrinth. Kemal once told a story involving an ice-covered lake at the center of the maze. In his father's recounting of this story, it was strictly forbidden for any of the sweepers to walk onto the ice that covered the lake, though a handful of the sweepers did so anyway. These rebellious sweepers broke the rules, oddly enough, in order to go ice fishing. The lake was home to a number of sizeable Siberian arctic char, which when caught and roasted over a fire provided a delicious meal for a very hungry sweeper.

  "If the sweepers are so hungry, why aren't they allowed to catch a fish in the lake?" Kiril had once asked his father, when he was seven or eight years old. "It doesn't seem fair."

  "It is not a matter of fair or unfair," his father had replied. "Those were the rules and fairness had no bearing on them."

  "Did you ever fish on the lake, Father?"

  "Once," replied Kemal with a smile, as he ran his hand over his son's forehead. "I was a novice sweeper and I had eaten too much of my food too soon into my journey. I was hungry—hungrier than I'd ever been. So I used my khopesh to cut a hole into the ice and I fished for several hours until I had caught a handsome char. I was just pulling the fish out of the water when another sweeper appeared. He waited for me at the shore and then he took the fish from me."

  "Why did he do that?" asked Kiril.

  "For one thing, he was much bigger than I was, and he probably figured I wouldn't fight back," replied Kemal. "What's more, I was in no position to object, because I had broken the rules. Nothing was said, but the understanding was clear. I would hand over my fish and, in return, he would not report me."

  "I still don't understand," said Kiril. "Why do the rules forbid you from catching fish?"

  "Well," replied Kemal evasively, "I suppose it is because the lake has a very strong undertow."

  "What's an undertow?"

  "It's a strong current that can pull you under the water," explained Kemal. "Usually, only oceans have undertows, but the lake has a very strong undertow because it actually drains downward, deep into the earth. It makes the ice very unstable." He smiled at Kiril's furrowed brow. "Put all of this out of your mind. I did the wrong thing, and I accepted my punishment."

  The young Kiril said nothing as he pondered what his father had said. Finally he spoke. "Father, if that sweeper had tried to take my fish," said Kiril, "I would have killed him. I would have hacked off his head with my khopesh."

  "Now, now," said Kemal with a dismissive cluck of his tongue. "Such sentiments are not suitable for a boy of your age. You mustn't think such things. Now be a good boy and go and play."

  ***

  As he stood at the edge of the frozen lake, Kiril was relieved not to find any trace of sweepers. The general feeling of emptiness at the lake was enhanced by the forlorn and almost ghostly nature of the surroundings. The lake was sizeable, at least a mile across in any given direction, and hemmed in on all sides by razor hedges. The openness of this space seemed to invite the wind, which blew with wicked ferocity and created miniature cyclones of snow that swirled and danced across the lake. The sun hung like a sullen orb on the edge of the horizon. Kiril was so weary he couldn't recall whether it was dusk or dawn.

  He walked out onto the ice for one hundred paces before stopping. With the careful, overly focused air of someone who doubts his own strength, Kiril used his khopesh to cut a hole in the ice. He glanced behind and noticed the trail of his own blood. There was little time left. Kiril hurried back to shore and set to work building a fire. He used some kindling that he had stowed away under his robe and, after expending a great deal of effort, he nursed a small fire to life.

  Kiril warmed his hands over the crackling flames and then set a small pot of water to boil over the fire's coals. The water warmed quickly and, as it began to boil, Kiril sprinkled herbs into the pot—first arrowroot, then goldenseal, and finally Dormian milk thistle. These were the key ingredients to sokÿvodee, an ancient elixir that, when taken in the proper proportions, allowed one to breathe underwater for a few minutes. When the concoction was finished brewing, Kiril drank it greedily. Seconds later, his body seized up, as if he were choking. He coughed violently and staggered to the spot where he had carved a hole in the ice. When he reached the hole, Kiril didn't even break his stride; he simply dove headfirst into the icy waters.

  The current grabbed Kiril immediately and dragged him down toward the bottom of the lake. He sank quickly and, as he neared the bottom, he saw that the floor of the lake wasn't made of rock and dirt. It was made of ice. The miraculous thing—the image that Kiril would never forget for as long as he lived—was the ice glowing brightly, in the same cheery fashion as holiday lights in many of the cities he had visited. The ice-covered bottom reflected the lights of an entire city hidden beneath the lake. At long last, he had returned to Jasber.

  CHAPTER 56

  THE CITY OF JASBER

  ALFONSO, LEIF, BILBLOX, AND KõRGU ran down the darkened tunnel. Leif could run for no longer than a minute before needing to stop. Alfonso stayed behind with him, while Bilblox and Kõrgu raced ahead to catch Marta.

  Leif needed several days of solid recuperation before setting out, but he understood that they had no time. He walked as quickly as he could, but the pain in his legs and side grew only sharper. He noticed Alfonso's worried look and shook his head.

  "I'm all right," said Leif. "I don't think I can stand another encounter with Kiril, but I can keep walking." He paused and looked at Alfonso.

  "Did you feel that?" he asked.

  Alfonso looked strangely at him. "I did," he said. "It's like a small magnet, tugging at my insides."

  "That's my Founding Tree," whispered Leif. "You probably felt that before, when you were in Somnos. The trees and the Great Sleepers have a close, almost symbiotic, relationship. Of course, you have the closest connection with the Founding Tree that you grew." He nodded with satisfaction. "We'll be in Jasber soon enough—I can feel it."

  Eventually, the two caught up to the others.

  "It's all right," said Bilblox. "I told Marta she has to stay with us. We're as eager as anyone to get t'Jasber, but Leif is in no condition to be runnin' around like a spring chicken."

  Marta nodded and they continued single file through the crumbling tunnel. Marta chattered excitedly about her family. "...There are three of us kids and I'm in the middle and we all live on an island..."

  "Wait a minute," said Bilblox suddenly. "We're still goin' down and we're goin' toward Jasber. Does that mean Jasber's underground?"

  "Of course it is," replied Marta. She seemed annoyed that Bilblox had interrupted her.

  "But how can that be?" pressed Bilblox. "How does the Foundin' Tree live underground without any sunlight? And how do ya live on an island underground?"

  "There's plenty of light," said Marta. "The rays reflect down from the lake above the city, so we get plenty of indirect sunlight. Don't worry—it's a wonderful city! Much better than any other. You'll see."

  The group continued down the tunnel for two hours or so until they reached yet another roadblock, a
pile of six or seven boulders that were far too heavy for any normal person to lift. Bilblox set to work immediately, heaving the stones aside, one at a time. "HURRY!" pleaded Marta, her face a mask of anguish and worry. "Please, Bilblox, hurry."

  Sweat poured down Bilblox's face. He ripped at the boulders and heaved them to the side. His muscles bulged and the pain from his exertions caused his arms to tremble. Finally, after a few minutes of backbreaking work, he opened up a passageway just large enough for them to fit through one by one. They entered an elegant chamber with elaborate tiles, carved stone leaves, and a domed ceiling, as if they were inside the top half of an egg. Despite its luxurious appearance, it appeared to be a seldom used storeroom. Several garden tools—rakes, hoes, and pickaxes—lay scattered on the floor. Burlap bags of soil were stacked against one wall. At the end of the chamber they saw a door made of a material they had never seen before. It was translucent, silky, but firm to the touch. Light filtered through from the other side.

  Marta ran across the room and stopped hesitantly at the door. "We're here," she said in a soft voice. "This is a leaf from our Founding Tree." She pulled the leaf door to one side and they stepped through into a vast underground world.

  They were standing inside an enormous cavern, and as Alfonso took in his surroundings, suddenly Jasber came into focus in his mind's eye. Alfonso always assumed that the city was situated on top of the cliff-sided island that jutted out of the Sea of the Clouds like a massive boulder, but in reality, a portion of this giant island was hollow inside and Jasber was situated inside this giant cavern, many miles across. It was an ingenious hiding place for an entire city.

  Alfonso noticed that the ceiling of the cavern was made entirely of smooth, glacially hard ice, the kind that Eskimos call manirak. It glowed subtly, as if receiving the first rays of a polar sun. In all of his adventures, rarely had Alfonso been as dumbfounded as he was at that moment, when he realized that he was staring up at the bottom of a lake—a lake that sat directly above the city of Jasber. The floor of this lake and the ceiling above Jasber were one and the same, nothing more than ice. Alfonso had the sensation that he was visiting an aquarium because the ice, in effect, created a giant glass window that allowed everyone in Jasber to look up and see the aquatic world above them.