Mike chuckled. “This time you don’t hesitate. Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t sound as scary as the brain implant.”
“You are mistaken. The nanotechnology will bring about a deeper and more profound change to your daughter’s body. She will not have one machine inside her, but millions, maybe billions.”
“But just to keep her blood clean?”
“Exactly. Just to keep her blood clean.” Mike paused. “You are bright enough to know where all this is headed.”
“You’re saying that the technological boosts will be too tempting to pass up. And that once we start down that road, we’ll keep going.”
Mike nodded. “Because it will be the easy thing to do. Because it will be the smart thing to do. Because we will be afraid to fall behind our peers. Because we will be afraid to grow old and die. Those are only a few of the reasons we will allow ourselves to merge with machines.”
“That doesn’t mean we’ll all end up as cyborgs. That’s just too wild an idea.”
“The instant you add any machine to your body—whether to your brain or your bloodstream—you are by definition a cyborg. Even today, right now in society, we have millions walking around with artificial joints and insulin pumps attached to their bodies. It is all a question of degrees.”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
“I am blind, and yet I can see this clearly. A hundred years from now we will be sitting at this same desk, you and I, and half our parts will be made of either plastic, polymers, or metal.”
“Even our hearts?”
Mike smiled. “Those will be the first to go.”
At one point, after hours in the boat, Ali felt the current increase. It was slight at first, and she did not pay it much heed, but then it accelerated drastically. Indeed, it grew as fast as Lestre above them, and they began to race along at a strong clip.
At least she assumed Lestre was still flowing above their heads. She asked Amma what was happening.
“The waters of Tiena are tied to the kloudar. That is how the river is able to flow uphill,” Amma said.
“We are going uphill?” AH asked.
“We have been climbing into the Youli Mountains since we left Uleestar. But now that the river closes on its source, it accelerates to join what you might call the antigravity of the kloudar.”
“The kloudar exert pressure on the water?”
“Yes.”
“They pull on the river?”
“Yes.”
“How come they don’t pull on us?”
“They do to some extent. When you stand directly beneath them, you feel lighter. But they have a special affinity for the waters of Tiena, which come from Lestre, and cycle around and around.”
“But the bulk of Lestre flows into Elnar, and then into the ocean. I saw that when I came out of the cave on top of Tutor.”
“True. But enough of Lestre remains to turn downward and feed Tiena.”
“That happens far south of here. I don’t understand how it works.”
“It doesn’t matter which end of the rope you pull on,” Amma said.
Ali smiled at the example. “You should teach physics at my school.”
What came next surprised her, scared her even, along with Farble, Paddy, and Ra. Ali suspected Amma deliberately didn’t tell them what to expect so as to heighten the thrill of the ride. One minute they were cruising along at a decent clip, the next they were in the middle of roaring rapids. The most amazing thing was that the rapids were racing steeply uphill. It was almost like riding a waterfall in reverse. In the other boat, Farble and Paddy were panicking. All she could do was shout out for them to hold on. She was holding on for dear life herself.
“You knew this was coming!” she yelled at Amma over the roar of the water.
The fairy laughed. “This is the best part!”
The river banked sharply, flowing upward at a forty-five degree angle. A bright green glow appeared up ahead. Their speed increased further—it was as if the floating kloudar had grabbed ahold of the water and didn’t want to lose it. Ali’s long red hair flew behind her head, like it used to when she rode her bike down from her trips into the woods behind her house. A fine mist brushed her cheeks, and she had to admit the ride was a rush.
Then they suddenly burst outside, into the day, onto a vast blue-green lake.
Mountains towered around the water, so rocky and steep they looked like stone sentinels that stood only to guard the lake. The sun was high in the sky but eclipsed by a massive kloudar, the green light flaring around the floating iceberg like a beam shone out of an alien jungle. The air was cold and thin, dry on Ali’s lips. The lake was as foaming as a seashore where they exited the Tiena tunnel, but the water quickly settled as it was absorbed by the huge body of liquid. Yet several miles off to her right, she saw another river forming, this one heading down, and she asked Amma if that was the beginning of Lestre.
“Lake Mira is the beginning and the end of the two great fairy rivers,” Amma said.
Ali tilted her head back and studied the kloudar. The effect on her body weight was noticeable, but she did not feel ready to fly yet. The blue moon Anglar was higher in the sky, no doubt because they were farther north and, as they swept around the moon in a great arc, the circular path of the kloudar was easier to trace.
“How long do the kloudar take to circle the moon?” Ali asked.
“Two of your Earth weeks,” Amma replied.
“So for half that time they are in the atmosphere?”
“Yes. It is then the dragons, and the high fairies, are able to visit some of them.”
“Not all?”
“No.” Amma paused. “Or I should say it is rare that anyone—dragon or fairy—visits a kloudar where ice maidens reside.”
“And the dead elementals?”
Amma nodded. “The ice maidens take care of them in hidden caves.”
“But the dead are dead. How can they bring the elementals back to life?”
Amma challenged her. “Are the dead really dead?”
Ali hesitated. “I don’t understand?”
“You left this world. Did you die?”
“I died as a fairy. I gained life as a girl.”
Amma did not answer, but pointed to a kloudar that did not appear especially large, but which was clearly far away. “That’s our destination.”
Ali shivered as she stared at it. The kloudar was a hundred percent encased in ice. “How do you know that’s the one?” she asked.
Amma spoke softly. “I was there two weeks ago.”
“You were? Why?”
Amma did not answer, only looked away.
Finally, they used their oars. As a group they rowed toward the shore, away from the foaming return of Tiena and the steep exit of Lestre. The shore was narrow and stony, hard with plates of slick ice. As Ali stepped from her boat, her foot touched the edge of the lake, the water was bitterly cold. Indeed, she was surprised the lake was not frozen over.
“The kloudar do not let it freeze,” Amma explained as they huddled on the shore. Trae and the other fairies had brought heavy woolen shawls, and Ali quickly donned one, along with Ra and Amma. Paddy was cold, too. She found a small blanket for him that he gladly embraced. Only Farble was unaffected by the cold, he appeared to like it.
Shivering, Drash crawled up onto the shore, beside the docked boats. His wide nostrils continued to flame, but it was a subdued red fire, no larger than a burning candle wick. Unfortunately, they had no blanket big enough to warm him.
“How were the dragons able to pull so many kloudar out of orbit?” Ali asked.
Amma gestured to the koul. “You should ask Drash. A grown dragon is very powerful, and the Shaktra commands hundreds. They were able to tow the kloudar at their leisure. Who was to stop them?”
“Drash said the Shaktra promised his father and the other dragons direct entry into the blue universe, if only they would follow it. Do you think that is true?” Ali
asked.
“No doubt the promise was made, but nothing the Shaktra says is true.”
The way Amma replied, it was as if she knew the monster. But when Ali tried to press her on the matter, she got nowhere. Yet Ali could see Amma was dropping more and more hints. It was as if she were preparing her for a major revelation. Or shock.
Trae wanted them to set out at once for the hidden stronghold, which he indicated was still another ten miles north of Lake Mira. He pointed to a division in the surrounding peaks on the northwest side of the water, explained that if they hiked without pause, they could reach the asylum before sunset. Ali had to break it to him—and all the fairies for that matter—that she had other plans.
“I’m going with Drash and Amma up to the kloudar,” she said. “It’s possible I can join you later.”
“How are you going to get up there?” Trae asked, not surprised.
“Drash will take care of my transportation,” Ali said, loud enough for the koul to hear. He raised his much more defined head and looked over. The fire in his nostrils briefly flared, but he did not speak. Trae glanced in his direction and shook his head.
“He is still a koul, he cannot fly,” Trae said.
“Don’t worry, he will be a dragon soon enough.”
Trae was not wild about her plan; he turned to Amma for support. “Have you two discussed this?” he asked.
Amma nodded. “Our queen knows what she is doing.”
Trae considered. “The terrain on any kloudar is dangerous if one does not have the ability to fly. For that reason, I must insist on accompanying the three of you.”
“Hey, what about me? I’m going,” Ra interrupted.
Ali spoke to him. “That might not be a good idea. It is doubtful you will be able to help up there and, like Trae said, the conditions on the kloudar are rough.”
Ra was amused. “You never know when you will need me, Ali.”
The surrounding fairies murmured unhappily at his use of her Earth name and his tone, but Ali had to agree with him. When she least expected it, Ra had turned out to be her greatest support.
“You and Trae can come if you want,” she said.
That left Paddy and Farble, and Ali had to explain to them that they were to go with the other fairies to the stronghold. They were in no mood to say goodbye. Both got very agitated, and grabbed hold of her arms and legs, and she had to speak in soothing tones to get them to let go. They had tears in their eyes, and she had to fight not to show her own. They had been wonderful traveling companions, as well as loyal friends, yet she felt in her heart she would see them again, and told them as much.
“I’m not sure when I’ll reach the stronghold, but I’ll definitely come back for you.”
“But Missy needs Paddy and Farble to help her,” Paddy pleaded.
Ali smiled and patted his head. “Missy knows that is true. That is why Missy will return for you. But right now, where I’m going, it’s not a safe place for leprechauns or trolls.”
“Sad,” Farble mumbled, trying to hold on to her with his hairy arms.
She patted his hard belly. “I’m sad, too. But I’m happy to know you’re going to be safe. Trust me, the fairies will take good care of you guys. They love me and they know how much I love you.”
Paddy wiped his eyes as he stared up at her. “Will they let me bring me gold to this place?”
Ali chuckled. “They will even help you carry it, Paddy.”
The precipitous angle of the surrounding mountains did not intimidate Drash, and he was happy to let the four of them—Amma, Trae, Ra, and herself—climb on his back. He acted like he wanted the exercise to warm up. But Ali knew he was seeking to distract himself from what she had planned next. . . his third test.
Drash trusted her, she knew, but he obviously suspected the third and final trial would be the most difficult of all—a fact she would not have argued. It was going to be frightening for both of them. She pointed to the highest peak in the area, on the south side of the lake, a virtual white sword aimed at the green sky.
“We’re going up there,” she said.
“Why?” Drash asked as he moved to obey.
“Don’t be afraid, you’ll see,” she said.
Amma muttered under her breath. “And you accuse me of being evasive.”
Ali had to smile. “It works both ways.”
However, she knew she was treating the koul properly. If he understood what was to come next, he would no doubt jump in the river and swim back to the place where they had found him.
With his last two days of growth, Drash had lost none of his ability to scale steep terrain. He was two-thirds a dragon—he went up the side of the peak at an easy twenty miles an hour, which meant they reached the summit in less than an hour, and were given no time to get used to the thin air. As they climbed off Drash’s back into the snow, they stumbled about for several minutes, trying to catch their breath. Trae and Amma bore it the best—besides Drash—while Ra struggled the most. Ali was okay.
“This peak has got to be higher than Kilimanjaro,” Ra gasped.
“Maybe you should go back down,” Ali warned.
Ra shook his head, shivered. “I go where you go.”
“Jira used to say that,” Amma said.
They all stared at her. “Who is Jira?” Ra asked.
Amma smiled, shook her head. “We’ll talk about it another time.”
The view from the peak was staggering in all directions, up and down—although the former took some getting used to. Several kloudar floated so close to the summit that Ali had to close her eyes and remind herself that they were not going to ram the side of the mountain. Just five minutes after they reached the snowy peak, a relatively small kloudar drifted so near that the hair on her head rose and the ground beneath her feet trembled. For over a minute, the sky was blotted out and they huddled in the shadow of a total eclipse. Yet when the levitating island finally passed, the green sun seemed to shine brighter. Ra shook his head in amazement.
“No one at home is going to believe any of this,” he said.
“No one at home should hear about any of this,” Ali replied.
Ra nodded. “Understood.”
“It is dangerous to approach the kloudar this way,” Trae warned.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Ali said, as she waded through the waist-high snow to Drash’s side, coming close to his ear so that she could speak to him in private. “Are you ready to fly?” she asked seriously.
“Drash is ready but has no wings,” he said.
“Do you know how a dragon gets his wings?”
“Drash is hoping that Geea knows.”
“Geea does know. The third test is simple. I remember it clearly from my days as fairy queen. To fly. . . a dragon must fly.”
“Drash does not understand.”
Ali pointed to the edge of the cliff. Straight down, on the south side, away from the lake, she estimated the drop at one sheer mile. “You have to leap, with faith, and your wings will be there. You will fly, simple as that, and then you will be a dragon,” she said.
Drash looked at her like she was crazy. “The wings will not be there. They could not possibly come that quick. Drash will die.”
Ali shook her head. “You have to trust me, and trust what you are. You are no longer a koul, you are a dragon. The fact that you are here, right now, means you are a dragon. You just have to take the leap.”
His red eyes smoldered as he stared at the edge of the cliff. “I am afraid.”
Ali nodded. “I am afraid, too. But I have faith in you.”
“Why is Geea afraid?”
“Because I am going to take this leap with you.”
Drash shook his head. “The queen of the fairies must not die.”
“The son of the king of the dragons will not fail the queen of the fairies.”
Drash sighed. “The king of the dragons has already failed the fairies.”
Ali pointed to his back. “Let me climb on
your back one more time, and we will show your father who you really are, and how he has been deceived by the Shaktra.”
Drash thought a moment, then suddenly raised his head high, and the red fire in his nostrils leapt out, and the light in his triangular eyes grew bright. He spoke in a clear deep voice.
“Let’s do it,” he said.
Before the others could understand what was happening, Ali climbed on his back to her favorite spot directly behind his head, and gripped the thick folds of his smooth oily hide, as Drash moved quickly toward the edge of the cliff. Behind her Ali heard the others cry out in dismay, but Drash needed no more encouraging words from her. This was his day, his moment, and he did not hesitate as they reached the last few feet of the cliff. He simply jumped, and then they were falling.
A cruel wind whipped around them as the distant ground raced toward them, yet Ali felt no fear, and suspected Drash felt none, either. They were way beyond committed. If a miracle did not happen in the next few seconds, they would both die, and that was a fact. Never had Ali felt so gripped by fate, and never had she felt so much faith in Geea’s decision to take human birth. Everything she had decided since she had first spoken to Nemi in that wonderful tree deep in the woods had led to this moment, she thought. At the same time, she wondered if she had made any decisions at all, if everything that had happened to her so far had not been inevitable.
Still, she wanted to see those wings! Where were they?
The illusion was strong: They were not falling to the ground, it was rushing toward them. Ali felt as if she could see a thousand details directly below her: the green tinge of the ice, the softness of the snow, the sober gray of the gathered rocks. The wind seemed to turn to thunder, drowning out even her thoughts, and then it was as if they were struck by lightning. Yet there were no clouds, no storm, and this bolt from above could just as well have come from inside Drash. A red halo of light surrounded his body like a forest fire that had only air left to burn. Initially she did not see his expanding wings so much as she felt them, because as Drash first started to resist their insane plunge, his wings were not there, only the possibility of them existed. She had told him the truth without realizing how deep it was. To fly he had to fly.
The Shaktra Page 26