Chapter 43

The Bridge to Sanctum

- Behold the fool who lies in wait and does not enter Sanctum’s gate -

"Lyla!" cried Chaeron, as both he and Thonavar scrambled down the rock boulders and into the clearing.

But there was no visible response. Lyla remained unmoving. Eyes closed.

Thonavar reached her first.

Come on Lyla. Wake up.

"Lyla! It is us! We are here," said Chaeron, an air of desperation in his voice. He reached out to touch her shoulder, trying to shake her awake. Thonavar saw the fear in Chaeron’s eyes.

Suddenly, Lyla’s body stiffened. Thonavar took a step back as Chaeron let out a small yelp. Lyla’s eyelids fluttered open. Thonavar saw her eyes come into focus as she stared at them. The sides of her mouth split open as she managed to speak. Her voice was slightly hoarse.

"What are you both doing here?"

A wave of relief swept through Thonavar. Chaeron gave a loud sigh and fell to his knees, shaking his head, swearing loudly.

Lyla was visibly pale and gaunt. Long cuts and gashes were noticeable all over her arms and legs.

"You have lost quite a bit of blood," began Thonavar. "You need to rest to recover."

Lyla tried to lift herself up to a sitting position but her arms started to tremble.

"Here," offered Chaeron, helping her sit up against a nearby rock.

Lyla sat there for a moment, without saying a word, not able to bring herself to meet the eyes of the two boys who stood before her. Finally, after almost a minute of silence, she spoke again.

"I acted rashly," she said. "My actions were foolish."

"Say nothing more of it," said Thonavar immediately.

At the corner of his eye, Thonavar saw Chaeron giving him another look of admiration.

"Indeed," echoed Chaeron, with a grin. "Welcome back."

There was another awkward silence before Chaeron could not bear it any longer.

"So! You survived the storm!"

Chaeron patted her on the shoulder.

"We knew you would somehow get to safety."

"Well I did not exactly find refuge on my own," she said, smiling weakly. "Had it not been for these two, I would have perished in the storm. They carried me to rest here," said Lyla, and she nodded to the still-standing sad-looking dark-haired twins. "They saved my life."

"They brought us to you," said Chaeron. "A strange pair."

"But you are safe," said Thonavar. "And that is what matters."

The twins stood by watching them silently. Thonavar turned to them.

"Thank you," he said.

Lyla brought her eyes to meet Thonavar’s. This time, her gaze was unflinching.

"So," she began, in a hushed voice. Thonavar knew she was about to apologise.

But before she could say another word, Thonavar spoke again.

"All is forgiven."

Lyla smiled again weakly. Suddenly, she coughed and blood sprayed into the air. She crumpled.

"Lyla!" shouted Chaeron and he caught her head before it struck the rock behind her.

Suddenly, the twins were next to her. Marallene held her head and gently eased her down.

"We tore pieces of her clothing to stop the bleeding from cuts on her body," she said softly. "She had been caught in the wrath of the hailstorm. We observed her flight up the stairway but she was struck by a hailstone and fell. We knew she would not make it."

"And so, we intervened," said her twin brother. "And we carried her here."

"I am weak," whispered Lyla. "It is close to midday now. You must all go on to must reach Sanctum’s gates before last light today. Leave me be."

"We will not leave you," said Thonavar, shaking his head.

Then he turned to the twins.

"Thank you for your help. We are most grateful. We will care for her here until she is strong enough or we will carry her. You may leave her in or care. The both of you need to reach Sanctum’s gates before last light today or you will not complete the journey."

"You are most gracious Thonavar. We leave her in good hands then. We will resume the journey then," said Marubelline softly. Then turning to Lyla, he spoke to her.

"You are in good company it seems. Good friends are hard to come by."

Lyla nodded. Chaeron beamed.

Then turning to Chaeron, Marallene spoke.

"We shall meet again. Hopefully within the walls of Sanctum."

She looked especially sad. Chaeron looked quite taken aback.

The twins then leapt lightly over the rocks and boulders and disappeared quickly over the other side.

"They are a strange pair," muttered Chaeron, staring after them. "This is not the last we shall see of them. This I am sure."

"Come now Lyla," said Thonavar. "Let us rest a while longer. We will try to move out in an hour or two. If you are still weak by then, Chaeron and I will each take turns carrying you."

"I will be a burden to no one," said Lyla defiantly, her lip trembling.

"Tis’ no burden," said Thonavar gently. But Lyla was obstinate.

"Hush now Lyla," said Chaeron gently. "You are not that heavy."

The three of them rested a while in silence. There were mixed feelings within the group. They all were glad to be reunited but were concerned and anxious to complete the journey. Lyla, however, had been considerably weakened by the loss of blood and needed to rest. She was visibly frustrated at her lack of strength and at the fact that she was slowing them down. Chaeron paced up and down, oblivious to the fact that he was making both Thonavar and Lyla uneasy.

"I am ready. Let us go. I have rested enough," Lyla declared.

"You need more rest," said Chaeron.

"I said I am ready," said Lyla. "We can move slowly. But I will not sit here wasting time like this. We need to cover more ground," she said firmly. She looked to Thonavar who sat on a nearby rock. Both Chaeron and Lyla looked to him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"You have not rested enough. That much is clear," he began. "But it is ultimately your choice. Come now Chaeron. Let us trust in Lyla’s strength and resume the journey. We go!"

"Aye. We go then," said Chaeron and he helped Lyla to stand. Lyla was light and it was not so difficult to carry her. Thonavar and Chaeron half-carried Lyla from one rock boulder to another. After some time, and with some effort, the trio managed to emerge from the rock clearing finding themselves once more before the dark hallway. The twins were nowhere to be seen.

"Can you walk?" Thonavar asked.

Lyla nodded.

Thonavar led the way and stepped into the hallway. Lyla followed behind him with Chaeron taking the rear. She walked slowly and cautiously. Even in the dark of the hallway, her face was still visibly pale.

They walked in the darkness silently. Again, Thonavar noticed the strange symbols carved on the walls all around. Smalls beams of light filtered through the small cracks. The group walked on in silence.

Thonavar was weary.

The past two days have all but drained us.

"The tunnel ends," called out Chaeron from behind. Dropping back, Thonavar came up beside Lyla. Chaeron, curious, moved to come alongside her to listen to the conversation.

"How are you feeling?" Thonavar asked.

"I am fine," she said quietly. She was panting slightly and sweat dripped from her eyebrows. Her face was a pale white. Her eyebrows were knotted as if she was concentrating on something.

Chaeron patted her on the back affectionately before resuming his place at the back.

Thonavar was no fool. He knew that Lyla had lost a lot of blood and that they needed to reach the Sanctum soon. It was well past noon and they had a few hours left till it became dark.

But we can still make it in time.

"Do you feel that?" said Chaeron suddenly. "The air grows colder."

As the three moved toward the light at the end of the hallway, the temperature continued to plummet. Stepping out of the dark hallway, a world of ice and snow immediately enveloped them.

However, it was still bright and they had to squint as their eyes began to adjust back to normalcy. The tunnel had opened out into a path. To the left of the path, a sheer drop to death awaited and the right was blocked by giant stone boulders.

Thonavar risked a glance over the edge. They were now so high up in the sky that clouds could be seen drifting here and there. The land below seemed a world away. From here the city of HavenGuarde could be seen. A vast dark thing stretched across the land like a shadow.

The black stain of humanity, ever creeping and growing.

Thonavar suppressed his dark thoughts before they could begin to collect. He looked up at the skies above. Somehow, they seemed nearer then before. He turned and saw that Chaeron too was staring up at the skies. Chaeron raised a hand and imagined he was reaching into the skies above, his hand breaking into the clouds. Thonavar saw that and smiled to himself. But then his smile disappeared as he saw the shimmering surface of the iron curtain above.

"What do you think Varu?" asked Chaeron, looking up into the sky. "What do you make of the world?"

"What do you mean?" said Thonavar, following his gaze. Lyla too, looked up to see what they were staring at.

"I mean, the world, how did it come to be? And how did we come to be here? How did we all come to be inside this… bubble?"

Thonavar paused and looked down in thought. Lyla remained silent.

"God created the world," said Thonavar simply.

"God?" said Lyla suddenly. She shook her head with a laugh. "There is no god," she muttered.

"Do not mind her," said Chaeron. "She is tired."

Thonavar nodded.

The two walked near the edge.

"So, then if God created the world. Why do you suppose we are here? Did he put us here, inside this bubble? What happened to the world?" asked Chaeron.

Thonavar paused again and this time he looked at the skies.

"What happened Charo…," replied Thonavar deep in thought, "was that we, in our arrogance, destroyed it."

At this Chaeron fell silent. He nodded grimly. "And you really believe that?"

"I do," replied Thonavar simply.

Chaeron shrugged and nodded.

"Well then God must have a plan to restore all this."

At this, he returned to join Lyla, leaving Thonavar staring out across the world.

The trio walked, following the path before them.

Not long, a large cloud floated into the mountainside, coming before them and obscuring the path. The wind blew and more clouds came into view. Not long, they found themselves in the surrounded by a mist. Thonavar stopped but Chaeron and Lyla went past him into the mists. Thonavar lost sight of them as they were enveloped by the mist.

"Do not move," he called out to them. "For you do not know where you step. We could be walking dangerously near the edge of the mountainside."

"Aye," came the worried voice of Chaeron from within the mist.

"The cloud will move soon," assured Lyla. "Stay calm. Do not move."

True enough, the wind blew and the cloud passed on. As the mist departed, Lyla gave a cry.

"Look!" exclaimed Lyla, pointing at something. Following her gaze, Chaeron sucked in a breath and Thonavar stared in amazement.

Before them was a bridge. It led upwards, disappearing into the misty clouds above.

A bridge into the heavens.

But there was something else.