“But I never heard of Sheri Smith before I met you,” Ra said.
“That doesn’t matter. In a few days everyone will know her name. Nemi is telling us that we can’t defeat them unless we adopt their same tactic. I have to awaken Geea, and let her take over the situation here. Then I have to return to Earth, and stop whatever Sheri has planned there.”
“Do you know how to wake up Geea?” Ra asked, shuddering at the thought of returning to the high kloudar. The last time he had been there, he had passed out from lack of oxygen.
Ali hesitated. “I have a few ideas.”
Ali insisted they make a quick stop at the Crystal Palace before they visited the kloudar. Ra wanted to know why. With dragons roaming that area, he felt it was a risky move.
“They will not be inside the palace,” Ali said. “They couldn’t fit. I want to come at the palace the same way I left it—via Tiena’s tunnel.”
“What do you want there?” Ra asked.
“Mirrors.”
“Mirrors?”
“Yes. You know, what you look at yourself in,” she said.
“I know what a mirror is. What do you want them for?”
“One of my ideas,” Ali replied. “Look, neither of you has to fly me underground. I’m feeling stronger. I can go myself.”
“Drash will take you to the spot Father died,” Drash said.
“Drash . . .” Ali began, pain in her voice.
“Drash wants to go there,” the dragon insisted.
They returned to Lake Mira, found it deserted, and flew inside the cave that had guided and sheltered Tiena for centuries. Now, at least at this end, all was dry. Studying Ali, Ra saw how painful it was for her to behold the results of her handiwork. He tried to reassure her that she’d had no choice, but the guilt weighed on her. At the same time, he tried to get her to explain more of what had gone on inside the chamber, but she brushed him off. It was a quality he was having to learn to accept—Ali kept her own counsel.
They reached the spot where Ali and Kashar had battled, at the harbor beneath the fairy palace. Here the empty riverbed was not only dry—it was scorched. There were a few bones to be found, some ash. Drash wanted to know exactly how his father had been killed. Ali replied reluctantly.
“Like I said before, I used the Yanti as a weapon, which was a mistake,” she said.
Drash landed at the edge of the gorge that had once been the river’s shore. He continued to study the fight scene. “Drash knows of no fire that could do this to another dragon,” he said, and there was sorrow in his voice. Ali patted him on the head.
“The fire that came was unnatural. It tortured us both,” she said.
Drash turned and looked at her scars. “Drash does not blame you.”
“Thank you,” Ali said quietly.
Ali and Ra were in and out of the Crystal Palace in minutes. First they fetched a fresh green robe for Ali from Geea’s old bedroom. Then they grabbed the first two large mirrors they saw. Carrying one each, they hastened back to Drash. But halfway down a winding stairway, Ali stumbled. She had seen her reflection in the mirror. She almost dropped it—Ra had to grab the frame.
“Oh God!” she cried.
Ra tried to comfort her as best he could. He even went so far as to say that once Geea was awakened, she could be healed. Ali just shut her eyes—her one eye, actually—and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she whispered several times over.
All Ra could do was stand there and feel helpless.
But Ali was not one for self-pity. She pulled herself together quickly. While still on the stairway, she asked him point-blank if he should accompany them up to the kloudar. “The last time you did not do well there,” she said.
“Where you go, I go,” he replied.
“Trae had to keep zapping you to keep you from smothering.”
“I can handle it. We won’t be there long.”
“You have no idea how long we will be there. Geea might not wake up at all.”
“Nemi would not have given you that clue without a reason,” Ra said.
“That’s true,” Ali agreed. Again her good eye strayed to the mirror. She reached out and touched his shoulder. “Is it too much . . . that I might be hideous for the rest of my life?”
“You already asked that. I said no. Love that depends on a perfect face and hair and skin is not love at all.”
“Your uncle taught you that.”
“How did you know?”
“I hear his words in your voice.” Ali paused, considering. “I won’t ask Geea to heal me. I might . . .” She did not finish.
“What?” Ra asked.
Ali shook her head. “Every minute counts. Let’s get to the kloudar.”
Returning to Drash, the dragon quickly swept them along the barren subterranean cavern, until they were back at Lake Mira. Then came the biggest question of them all.
“Is the kloudar we visited last time still on this side of Anglar?” Ali asked Drash.
“Drash does not know,” the dragon replied.
Ali studied the clear sky, and the literally hundreds of floating icebergs that slowly swept around the stationary blue moon. Ra was not sure if he understood the problem.
“Where do the kloudar go when they move to the other side of Anglar?” he asked.
“Into outer space,” Ali replied.
Now he understood. “Wow.”
“No dragon has ever ridden a kloudar beyond Anglar,” Drash said. “At least, not until the Shaktra came.”
“Your father boasted that he had been beyond Anglar and experienced the blue light,” Ali told the dragon, still searching the skies. “I didn’t believe him. He looked ill.”
“The blue light would not have made him sick,” Drash said.
Ra turned to Ali. “How can you tell one kloudar from another?”
“The one where Geea sleeps, remember, is so high up, it actually looks tiny. Also, it calls to me. Like . . .” Ali’s voice trailed off, and she pointed excitedly. “There it is over there! Do you see it?”
In the direction she pointed, Ra saw nothing but green sky.
“No,” he replied.
“Drash sees it,” the dragon replied. “It has moved closer to the edge of the world. There will be even less air for us to breathe.”
Ali went to climb off Drash, while trying to balance the mirrors. “More the reason I should go by myself.”
Ra stopped her. “You’ve only got one hand that works. You’re going to drop the mirrors. And you’re nowhere near full strength. I doubt you can fly that high.”
“Drash agrees. Drash must take Geea,” the dragon said.
Ali saw she was not going to be able to ditch her friends. “All right,” she said.
The trip up to the kloudar seemed to take longer than last time. Ra did not know if it was because Drash was fatigued, or the levitating mountain had gained altitude during this portion of its orbit around the blue moon. The truth was, the thin air did concern him, but he was still feeling guilty over the fact that he had allowed Ali to enter the chamber on the Isle of Greesh alone. The fear that had swept over him, when they had approached that awful place, continued to puzzle him. He had simply felt he would go nuts if he went inside the chamber.
Ra still did not understand how Ali could have accomplished anything inside—in so short a time. She’d only been gone five seconds . . .
At last the icy kloudar began to reveal its true size. It was staggering. There was an iceberg quality to the structure of the mountain in the sense that it was bottom-heavy, and yet it tapered down sharply. Fissures of gray stone were visible between the ice, but the thing was largely a floating glacier. Ra estimated it to be twelve miles in diameter. It could have been twice that. This high up, they had no reference point to grasp its true size.
But there was no mistaking how the color of the sky changed, as they drew near the kloudar. The atmosphere turned a dark green, and picked up a hint of blue, probably as a result of the snow
reflecting back the light of Anglar. But the changes in colors did not concern Ra. He was having to concentrate on his breath, drawing in as much oxygen as he could from the nearly empty air. Plus it was freezing, which did not help. His chest felt as if his bronchial tubes might harden into metal pipes. Already his lungs ached. He had to struggle to hide it from Ali.
“How do you feel?” she asked, sitting behind him, her mouth near his ear.
He lied. “Feels easier than last time.”
“Last time we were attacked by dragons and the Shaktra,” Ali said, scanning in all directions. “I wonder if they can see us up here.”
“Dragons do not like to approach kloudar where the ice maidens reside,” Drash said. “It is forbidden.”
“They did it last time,” Ali replied. “The one who knocked you down was your uncle, Chashar.”
“Drash has not forgotten.” The dragon added, “Yet Chashar and the Shaktra did not try to enter your cave.”
“Why do you call it my cave?” Ali asked seriously.
“Drash knows,” the dragon replied.
Ali continued her search. Ra tried to do likewise but felt dizzy. They were up so high! All he could see was the green sea, a few rivers, and floating kloudar. He couldn’t even spot Uleestar.
“No one’s following us,” Ali said.
“For now,” Drash replied.
Ali nodded. “While we’re inside the cave, if you see any dragons approach, do not try to fight them. Call for me.”
“What will Geea do?” Drash asked.
“Hopefully the real Geea will know what to do,” Ali replied.
Drash had to take only one trip around the kloudar before Ali spotted the cave they sought. The dragon landed with surprising grace, but too near the edge for Ra’s tastes. Climbing down from Drash, Ra wasn’t ashamed to let Ali take his hand. Already his fingers were numb. If they were attacked now, his bow and arrows would be useless. Ali gave him a worried look.
“Why do you always have to try to be such a hero?” she asked.
“Because you get to be one without even trying.”
“Let me carry the mirrors. I can’t have you drop and break one.”
“You only have one hand.”
“It is a strong hand. Let me do it.”
Ra gave in. “Can you at least tell me what they’re for?”
Ali turned and stared at the green sun, straight overhead. “We’re going to bring a little sunshine into a dark place,” she said.
Ra guessed her basic plan. “You only need two mirrors?”
Ali gestured to the cave. “It heads straight in, then there’s only one major turn to the left.”
“What will we find?” he asked.
“A crypt. A live one. Don’t worry. It’s beautiful.”
Using a stone for support, Ali set up one of the mirrors at a forty-five degree angle, not far from the cave entrance. Ra admired the care in her placement—the green beam shone straight into the cave. He was glad to follow her inside. Last time he had been told to stay outside.
The temperature increased several degrees and the air grew thicker. But the improvements were slight. Ra continued to struggle, but he had Ali by his side, and that was always good. The light from the mirror helped, but the farther they went, the darker it got. The tunnel walls seemed to emit a faint blue phosphorescence, but Ra thought he might be imagining it.
He wondered aloud if there were ice maidens in the cave.
Ali cautioned him to remain silent. Was that a yes or no?
They walked farther, until the light from the mirror faded and the blue glow from the walls became unmistakable. Then the rocky tunnel abruptly ended, in a round room—a half-sphere with roughly hewn icy walls and an uneven stone floor.
Ali paused to set up her second mirror, finding a large rock to support it. A ghostly green glow penetrated the mysterious crypt.
Inside, assembled in a neat row, were five glass cases. They looked more like quartz hibernaculums than beds. Ra had no idea what they were made of: ice and crystal, water and weird potions. They looked solid. Each one balanced atop a low boulder that resembled a granite pyramid.
Ali went inside. Ra followed, feeling as if he was violating a sacred spot.
The two cases on the left were empty, the three on the right were not. The latter had women in them, beautiful sleeping fairies, eyes tightly shut. Ra suspected they were not simply dreaming.
“A crypt. A live one. Don’t worry. It’s beautiful.”
Were they dead? Ra preferred to stay near the door, but Ali motioned him closer. Come inside. He was blocking the reflected green glow she had worked so hard to bring about.
Various colored lights shone above the fairies. The lights appeared to emanate from the women themselves. The cases—Ra hated to call them coffins—were labeled in the same hieroglyphics he had seen in Tiena’s southern harbor. There was one word on the bottom edge of each case. Ra studied the blue letters, searching for a pattern, but found none. He assumed Ali knew what they meant.
Ra wondered if the ice maidens had built the crypt. Or the fairies?
A million questions ran through his head. But he was so cold!
Ali ignored the first two cases, stepped to the third. The fairy inside was female, short and fat, plain. Lying on her back, she wore a green robe, but she did not appear to be breathing. Covering her from head to toe was a green light, streaked with faint yellow rays.
Ali frowned as she studied the fairy and muttered to herself—something about Lucy or Lucy’s mother. Ra still didn’t know who this Lucy was.
Ali moved to the fourth case. There was another fairy inside. This one took Ra’s breath away. He did not have to be told. It was the body he had loved for centuries.
Standing across the case from him, Ali raised her head and smiled in his direction. Like she had at the lake, it was as if she spoke directly into his mind, and he saw Queen Geea as Ali had first beheld her when she had first entered the cave.
The woman was more beautiful than a goddess. Her long red hair burned, and her smooth skin was as cool as a blue moon. She wore no crown, but anklets and bracelets made of green vines, yellow petals, and silver and gold thread, and she had on a white silk robe. Her legs were long and shapely, as though sketched by an artist, and her face was a mystery. Even with closed eyes and silent ears, it was as if she saw and heard everything around her—in the chamber, on the far side of the green world, maybe on Anglar itself. Her kindness was a large portion of her beauty, for she did not need to speak for Ali to know the words she would say. Because her words would be about love . . .
Ra realized he was staring at the goal of all his quests.
He had not merely found his love, but his queen.
Three colors shone from the fairy, blending in soft bands of light like the colors of a clear prism: yellow, green, and blue. Ra suspected the yellow was there because Ali was a human being. The green was present because she was also an elemental. But to Ra, he might have been prejudiced, the blue light meant she was an angel . . .
Ali reached down and touched her hand. “She’s alive!” Ali whispered, awe in her voice. Yet Geea’s eyes did not open, and she made no sound.
“How alive is she?” Ra asked. In response, Ali pointed to the mirror that shone with the green light of the outside sun.
“As a rule, life after life, the ice maidens used to wake us near dawn. I always remember seeing the light of the sun—before I saw or did anything else. Buried deep inside here, I don’t know how they managed that, but I thought I would try to copy their style. What do you think? Will it work?”
“Won’t she simply awaken if she wants to be awakened?” Ra asked.
“Not necessarily. She might still need help from us.” Ali gave him a shrewd look. “Sleeping Beauty,” she said.
“Never read the book. Never saw the Disney cartoon,” Ra quickly lied.
“How do you know Disney made it?”
“Ali . . .”
??
?What do we have to lose?”
Ra would have blushed had he any blood left in his freezing face. “I’m not going to open that case and . . . that would be sacrilege!”
Ali sighed. “So melodramatic. You used to kiss her all the time.”
“Jira used to kiss her!”
“So you don’t feel comfortable kissing her?”
“I certainly do not. She’s . . . she’s . . .”
“What?”
“A goddess!”
Ali smiled. “Kiss me first, then, as a warm-up. Then try kissing her.”
“We have come to this dangerous place on a very important mission. Two worlds are about to collide, possibly be destroyed. How can you talk about me kissing anyone?”
Ali came around the case, stood beside him, put her right palm on his shivering chest, and instantly he felt healing warmth flow into his heart. His trembling stopped, and feeling returned to his frozen fingers. She had only one eye left, true, but it was a good eye, bright as any nighttime star. It pierced his fears, his phobias, and he saw what she was asking for was the most amazing miracle of all, because it was such a gentle request—humble, too. Like she had earlier in the day, at the lake, she put her head close, and again he heard her words in his head, not with his ears. However, with what was left of her lips, he felt her touch his ears . . .
“I know I’m hideous, and she’s beautiful, and you remember that beauty, and want it, and I want it, too, more than you can imagine. But I’m human now, and I’m a mess, but I still need love as much as she does. We both need it, more than the green light of the sun, or any special incantation I might conjure. We need it even more than the power of the Yanti. The talisman has immense magic, it was created in the violet world. Even so, you are my love, you are both our loves, and we need that love more than any other power in the galaxy. If it’s there, if we’re allowed to feel it, if only for a short while, then we’ll feel hope, and there will be hope, for love is the only chance either world has left anymore.”
Ali’s stream of thought fell silent, as she reached her arms around him and spoke in his ear. “Kiss me, Jira,” she whispered.
Ra kissed her, as best he could, without, he hoped, hurting her, and he felt himself melting, but not as her skin had melted. To him her burnt lips were red jewels of joy.