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The next morning, after breakfast—which had again mysteriously appeared after the tinkling of a bell—Rohlwig showed up in the common room to escort the youths to the training field.
Once on the field, Rohlwig reached inside his robe and pulled out three devices. “The time has come for each of you to get a treyo.” He handed them out to Paul, Danielle, and Jared.
Rohlwig took out his own treyo and held it up. “Well, here you have your treyo.” He pointed to the screen. “This is the touch screen.” Next, he indicated the buttons along the bottom. “There are also several buttons here below the screen.” He pressed his thumb against the screen, and it lit up. “Now, turn your devices on by placing your thumb on the screen, please.”
Jared placed a thumb on the screen of his treyo. The screen illuminated.
“Good.” Rohlwig continued his explanation of the treyo. “Now, on the main screen, there are several icons. Look for the one that looks like a roll of paper. Tap it. That’s how you get to the map program. With it, you can locate where you are and where you want to go. Now, let’s practice using the maps in the treyos.”
Rohlwig took out a rolled up piece of parchment and threw it in the air. A realistic scene appeared all around them like with the last simulation, except this time, they were in a canyon, which Jared recognized as being the Divide.
After orienting Jared and the others on the features of the map program, Rohlwig said, “Now, let’s practice using the maps in the treyos.” He took out a rolled up piece of parchment and threw it in the air.
A realistic scene appeared all around them like with the last simulation, except this time, they were in a canyon, which Jared recognized as being the Divide.
Rohlwig pointed to his treyo. “First, open the map program.”
Jared did so, and a flashing white dot appeared on the map.
“That flashing white dot is where we are right now.” Rohlwig waved a hand to indicate the Divide. “Near the northernmost mouth of the Divide.”
After a brief pause, Rohlwig held up a finger. “Next, I’ll show you how to let the treyo know where you want to go. Let’s say it’s the closest gateway back to Cira.
“You say,” Rohlwig put his mouth close to the treyo, “Cira.” Then he added, “Or, you can search for a gateway in the collections of maps.”
Rohlwig gestured for the youths to follow his instructions.
Jared and his friends said, “Cira” in unison.
Jared saw a flashing green dot on the map.
“That flashing green dot is where the gateway is. Also, notice the alphanumeric code that appears under the flashing dot on the map.” Rohlwig held up his treyo and pointed to the screen. “This is the identifier.”
Jared was about to ask what the identifier was used for, but Rohlwig quickly added, “And, what do I do with the identifier, you might ask?” Without waiting for a response, he answered, “Well, simply hold out your treyo, say the number shown out loud—or tap the dot on the screen—and the treyo will point the direction you should go.
“When you reach the location of the gateway, the treyo will already be set to let you through. All you have to do to make it appear is push the green button centered below the screen.”
Jared looked at the green button on his treyo. Seems easy enough.
“So, let’s practice.” Rohlwig tucked his treyo back in his robe. “Repeat aloud the gateway identifier shown on your treyo.”
Jared and his friends read the code in unison. “C -- 42 -- V -- 58 -- R -- T -- 3.”
The screen of Jared’s treyo went blank momentarily, and then a white arrow appeared. The number .50 appeared in the middle of the head of the arrow.
“That arrow indicates the direction you go. And the number on the arrow shows the distance.” Rohlwig pointed to the south. “Follow your treyos until they read 0.”
Jared looked southward along the narrow strip of shore between the canyon wall and the water’s edge. He wondered how far .50 was.
“And, try not to fall in.” Rohlwig pointed at the raguam.
Jared looked at the fire-water and recalled that Verissa had explained that no one had ever touched raguam and survived. Yeah. Good idea.
As Jared and the others walked single file along the shoreline, they heeded Rohlwig’s warning by staying close to the canyon wall.
After a while, Jared began to get bored but then remembered what happened when he thought the last simulation was boring: he ended up unconscious after being bitten by thiguts.
So, Jared forced himself to stay alert because there was bound to be something strange or unexpected around the next bend. And, I’m going to be ready for it.
Coincidently, as Jared began looking around, a flying creature swooped down. He ducked. “Look out!”
However, Danielle didn’t see it in time, and Jared was too late with his warning. A porumfid snatched up Danielle by the shoulders with its large claws.
Jared wrapped his arms around Danielle’s ankles, thinking he could pull her loose, but the large and mighty, white, feathered bird wouldn’t let her go. And, since Jared didn’t let go, Danielle and he were both carried away.
As the porumfid took them higher and higher—its long, yellow beak pointing up into the heavens while its head and long neck bobbed in unison with the flapping of its wings—Jared held on tightly.
A second later, he looked down. They were already halfway up to the top of the canyon. And, in another couple of seconds, they were flying high above the trees on the Teruvisan side of the canyon.
“We’ll meet you at the gateway!” Rohlwig called out using beoveh.
There was a flash of light, and the porumfid dropped Jared and Danielle.
What happened? As Jared began falling toward the jungle below, he looked up at the bird and saw it change direction and fly away; it appeared to have forgotten about Jared and Danielle.
But Jared became less worried about what happened and more worried about what would happen as the canopy of the trees grew rapidly nearer. Logic told Jared that he and Danielle were going to fall to their deaths, but he suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be okay.
Immediately after that feeling entered him, Danielle’s screaming called him to action. He let go of Danielle’s legs and grabbed her hand as she reached for him.
Jared looked at Danielle—she looked terrified—and gave her an okay signal with his fingers. He didn’t know what was going to happen, but at the same time, he felt calm.
Jared pictured Rohlwig in his mind and was about to call out to Rohlwig with beoveh when, to his amazement, the speed of their descent abruptly changed. Jared felt his robe furling behind him like a cape, slowing him down. Danielle’s robe was also acting as a parachute for her.
Jared felt like a super hero. He grinned and almost laughed. Is this for real?
He looked at Danielle. She had a look of wonderment and disbelief on her face.
Jared realized, Rohlwig must have known about our robes. That’s why he didn’t try to save us. And, just like he knew that storm would come when I got bitten by those thiguts, he knew that lightning, or whatever that flash of light was, would happen and make the porumfid drop us.
Still holding hands, Jared and Danielle floated down into the jungle and gently landed on a large tree limb high above the ground. They looked at each other. They were both wide-eyed, and their mouths hung open.
Danielle could barely speak. She pointed up at the sky, at herself and Jared, and then at their robes. “What...? how...?”
With an astonished smile, Jared stammered, “I... I... I can’t believe... we survived that... fall.”
Danielle’s lower lip quivered, and she shuddered as she exhaled. “I thought we were going to die.” Tears started forming in her eyes.
To avoid an emotional meltdown, Jared tried to reassure her. “Yeah. But, we’re okay.” He let go of her hand (he wasn’t fully aware that he was still holding it until tha
t moment) and crouched down looking for a branch to climb down onto. “Rohlwig must have known our robes would save us.”
Jared glanced up at her. Danielle sniffed, blinking away the tears, and her spirits seemed to lift.
Jared said, “What do you say we get down from here?”
Danielle nodded. “Rohlwig said to meet him and Paul at the gateway, right?”
“Yep. So, we better get going.” Jared led the way as they began to climb down the tree.
It didn’t take very long for them to reach the lowest branch. Holding onto her wrist, Jared helped Danielle down onto the limb.
Jared looked down. They were about 10 feet from the ground. A little too high to jump , but we could probably hang from the branch and then drop down.
“Now what? Jump?” Danielle asked.
Immediately after she said that, Danielle was jerked off the branch.
Jared, who was still holding onto her wrist, instinctively squeezed it tighter. As he was pulled off balance, he fell against a nearby vertical branch and managed to hook it with the crook of his free arm.
He looked down at the ground as he struggled to hold onto Danielle. The tongue of a jobalich had wrapped itself around Danielle’s ankle, and it was trying to pull her underground.
“A jobalich!” Danielle began screaming hysterically.
Even though his arms felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets, Jared kept a hold of her wrist and the tree. Then, just as he felt Danielle’s wrist starting to slip from his grasp and his strength starting to give out, the pulling stopped.
Jared scanned the ground and Danielle’s leg. The jobalich was gone. It must have given up and decided to move on to an easier-to-catch snack.
But, they weren’t out of danger, yet. The jobalich could come back; and, even though Danielle’s feet dangled only a few feet above the ground, Jared couldn’t let her go because the jobalich would definitely come back then. Jared continued to fight to hold onto the tree and Danielle.
Danielle, who was whimpering, looked up at Jared.
Straining, he said, “Use me as a rope and climb up.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“You have to. I can’t hold on much longer.”
Danielle looked up at him with despair in her eyes.
Jared didn’t want to give up on her, but he was feeling frustrated. Why won’t she try? “DO IT! NOW!”
Danielle flinched, and then her facial expression changed. She seemed to forget her doubts and reached up with her free hand.
Jared encouraged her. “That’s it. Good.”
Danielle grabbed Jared’s sleeve and pulled herself up. Jared let go of her wrist, and, with that hand, she grabbed a fist full of Jared’s sleeve higher up.
At first, Jared was worried that his robe might rip, but it seemed to be holding up fine. He was surprised. For being such a light fabric, it sure is strong.
Danielle continued to climb until she reached Jared’s shoulder. At that point, she was able to swing her leg up and put her foot on the lowest branch.
Then, putting his arm around her waist, Jared helped stabilize Danielle until she could get her other foot on the branch he was on and balance herself.
Once she was steady, Jared let go of her and, with a grunt, pushed off from the vertical branch his arm was hooked around.
Jared shook his arm to get the circulation going. “I guess we’ll have to find another—”
With one hand holding onto a smaller branch, Danielle embraced Jared with her free arm and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
Her hug made him feel warm and peaceful. Jared patted her on the back with his free hand (his other hand was holding onto a nearby branch). He liked that she was so appreciative of his help but wanted to get farther up in the tree in case the jobalich decided to come back.
Jared cleared his throat. “Um... yeah... no problem. But, we better get higher up in case that jobalich comes back.”
Danielle nodded and let go of him. Jared noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. He felt uncomfortable seeing her so emotional and quickly turned his attention upward.
After he climbed about 10 feet up, Jared thought, This is probably high enough. He sat on a large limb to rest and to try to think of a way out of the jungle. “I just need to think for a minute.”
Danielle sat down next to him without saying a word. She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands and sniffed.
As Jared looked around, he noticed there were many jungle vines woven through the trees. “I have an idea.”
Danielle rubbed her nose and sniffed again. “What?”
Jared took out his treyo and opened the map program. “Rohlwig wants us to meet him at the gateway to Cira, but we need to find a gateway down into the canyon.” He continued searching on his handheld device and soon found the right gateway. “Ah—ha. There it is.”
Jared held out his treyo. “T—N—726—X—S—438.” The arrow on the screen of his treyo pointed back to the west.
“We’re not far from the canyon rim,” Jared said, looking at the .10 on the arrow. “Let’s go.”
“But how?” Danielle asked, gesturing with a hand to the tree branches around her and Jared. “We’re in a tree, and we can’t go down there.” She pointed to the ground.
Jared stood up, jumped onto a different branch, and grabbed a large vine. “We can use these vines.”
Danielle smiled and leapt over to his side. “Lead the way.”
Jared was glad that Danielle liked his idea. He tugged on the vine. “Seems secure.”
He began crawling upside down along the vine toward the next tree. Danielle followed.
They climbed up and down several trees and along the largest vines they could find until the distance on Jared’s treyo read 0.
“Stop.” Jared was relieved they finally made it; his arms were very tired. “This is it,” he said out of breath.
Danielle, also breathing hard and looking just as exhausted as Jared, came crawling off the vine onto the branch next to him.
Jared pointed his treyo at the trunk of the tree and pushed the green button on it. An area of bark swirled in a large, oval-shaped pattern and then disappeared, leaving a small cavity in the tree.
“Ladies first.” Jared indicated the hole with the wave of a hand.
“Thank you.”
Jared let Danielle pass. She crouched down as she stepped into the hollow part of the tree and disappeared. Jared waited a moment and then squeezed into the hole. Instantly, he found himself looking out over the raguam at the bottom of the Divide.
Danielle already had her treyo out. “I’m looking for a gateway.”
Jared sighed and said ironically, “That was easy.”
Danielle rolled her eyes, half-smiled, and shook her head. Once she finished her search, she said. “Okay. Got it.”
Jared was glad to see Danielle happy again. “Great.”
After saying the map point’s identifier code to the treyo, Danielle led the way along the canyon bottom and around a bend to the north. Rohlwig and Paul were waiting for them there.
When Jared and Danielle walked into view, Rohlwig said, “I was just about to go looking for you.”
“Well, we had a nasty encounter with a jobalich,” Jared said, trying to make light of the experience.
“First, a porumfid, then a jobalich? How unfortunate, indeed,” Rohlwig said in a way that made Jared suspect Rohlwig had planned the whole ordeal.
Was that whole thing another test? Jared joked to himself, He probably planned it to build our character or something. He would play along with Rohlwig, for the time being.
“So, did you see why the porumfid dropped us, Rohlwig?” Jared asked, wanting to know if Rohlwig had planned that part of the simulation. “There was a flash of light—”
Paul jumped in. “Rohlwig pointed at that thing and said something in Amatay. A bolt of lightning shot out of his fingers.” He excitedly pointed to his own fingers. “Then, the por
umfid dropped you.” He made a downward motion with his hand. “I thought you two were going to go splat,” he slapped his hands together, “on the ground, but Rohlwig told me not to worry. He said you’d be fine. And, here you are—safe and sound.”
So, he shot the porumfid with a bolt of lightning. “Well then, thanks, Rohlwig.” But, that still doesn’t tell me whether or not the porumfid getting us was an accident. Jared smiled and, wanting to trick Rohlwig into revealing any plan he had, said, “We were lucky not to fall to our deaths, though... something happened... when we were falling... we—”
“Yes, I know. When falling, as you reach a certain velocity, the robe serves as a parachute.” Rohlwig further explained, “Now, you can see why they’re so valuable. But, this is just one of the many functions a robe has. And in time, you’ll learn all its secrets.”
Although Rohlwig hadn’t said that he had planned for Jared and Danielle to be carried away by a porumfid, parachute down into the trees, and get attacked by a jobalich, Jared still had a feeling that Rohlwig knew more than he was letting on. For one, he didn’t ask for any details about what happened with the jobalich.
Jared began to ponder the matter further. But, how could he have known I’d grab Danielle’s legs? Wait. Maybe he didn’t plan on that. But, what would be the reason for letting Danielle be taken away? A test for me to save her? To give her a challenge? Both? Or, maybe the point was to get me and Paul alone with him, so he could test us. But, what would that test have been?
Jared asked Rohlwig, “So, what did you and Paul do?”
“While, you two were off on your little adventure, Paul and I had plenty of time to talk and get to know each other better.” Rohlwig smiled and patted Paul on the shoulder.
Jared, still suspicious, looked at Paul to see if he would validate what Rohlwig said. There has to be more to it than that.
To Jared’s disappointment, Paul only said, “Yeah. It was nice.”
Jared was still convinced that Rohlwig had planned what happened, and the simulation wasn’t just an exercise in finding a gateway. However, Rohlwig wasn’t saying anything either way.
“Well, now you know how to find gateways, so let’s get back to the training field.” Rohlwig turned to Paul, “Would you mind opening the gateway for us, Paul?”
Jared thought Rohlwig would explain more about the simulation—about how he had planned everything that happened and the lessons they should have learned. Strange.
“Me? Sure.” Paul took out his treyo and pointed it at the cliff.
The simulation stopped, and they were back on the training field.
“Go back to your rooms and get some food.” Rohlwig started walking away. “I need to finish preparing the next simulation.” He said back over his shoulder, “I’ll come get you a little later.”
Rohlwig got into one of the elevators on the opposite side of the arena from the one Jared, Danielle, and Paul used to get to their quarters with the not-just-an-elevator.
Paul looked at Danielle and Jared with interest. “I want to know what happened with the jobalich you ran into while you were in the jungle and how you got back to the Divide.”
“Okay,” Danielle waved for them to follow her to the not-just-an-elevator.
Jared started walking but just listened as Danielle told the details of her and Jared’s adventure to Paul. She had finished the story by the time they got to the not-just-an-elevator.
“Wow. Good thinking, Jared,” Paul said.
“No big deal.” Jared shrugged.
They got in the not-just-an-elevator.
“No big deal? You saved my life.” Danielle gave Jared a serious look.
Honestly, Jared knew he had saved Danielle’s life and listened with interest to her recounting the events, but he had only done what anyone in his situation would’ve done.
After the quick ride in the not-just-an-elevator, when they stepped into their common room, the dining table in the center of the room was set, and there was food waiting for them.
Jared pointed at the table. “Look. Lunch is already here. I’m starving.”