The Pillars of Ponderay

  “Nah, you don’t,” Albert said, but Hoyt held out his hand.

  “I’m saying thanks,” Hoyt said, chuckling. “Accept it.”

  They shook hands, and just then, Albert was struck by an incredible amount of respect for the Realm of Ponderay. If they hadn’t come here, Albert and Hoyt would still be enemies. Now, things were changing, and it was the Realm that had made it all happen.

  “You ready for this?” Albert asked.

  The wind blew, and Hoyt shivered. “Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

  “We should get everyone together,” Albert suggested. “And start planning. It’s time to move on.”

  Albert and Hoyt turned back to the group, only to find that Birdie, Slink, and Mo had fallen asleep, too.

  Albert looked at Hoyt. “We could probably use the rest. I’ll take the first watch and wake you up in an hour. Sound good?”

  Hoyt nodded, and lay down near Mo.

  Albert looked around. Even with his friends asleep, there was a determination that hadn’t been there before. They were a real team now, and despite all the danger they’d faced, despite everything that had happened today, all the close calls and arguments and fear, Albert was happy.

  Beneath the happiness was something else, something that made Albert wonder if he’d be able to nap at all.

  Excitement.

  CHAPTER 26

  The Ten Pillars of Ponderay

  Two hours later, they had made their plan—or at least a plan for getting to and climbing the Pillars. They still didn’t know what they’d do once they got to the top; they still didn’t know how the Tiles and Pillars were marked.

  “Nothing to do but climb down,” Albert said, as he peered over the edge of the cliff, lying on his belly. The cliff simply dropped off, fading into a rocky beach that led to the shores of the Silver Sea.

  Leroy was beside Albert, staring down into the abyss. “Hey, at least we haven’t seen any Core creatures here at the sea . . . yet.”

  Albert laughed. “Way to be positive.”

  “I’ve been sort of a wimp this whole journey,” Hoyt said. “I’ll lead the pack.”

  “Go ahead,” Birdie suggested, waving a hand as Hoyt marched past her. She was hopping up and down, testing the strength of her legs. They’d finally become unparalyzed after their short rest.

  Slink stood beside her, grinning like a madman. Albert was starting to think the guy had a crush on Birdie. And with the way Birdie smiled back at him, maybe she had one, too. Slink was cool, in Albert’s eyes. He’d saved both Albert and Birdie in one day.

  “We’ve got five hours left,” Albert said. “And those Pillars are going to take at least a few hours to climb. Let’s go.”

  They had to lie on their stomachs and scoot backward over the edge of the cliff to move down. It was scary work, and slow going with all the strong winds at their backs.

  Hand after hand, foot after foot, the six of them made the descent. The closer they got to the bottom, the more Albert noticed just how big the Ten Pillars were. He could see sparks and flashes of color in the Silver Sea—Hammerfins and Lightning Rays upset by the Imbalance, getting ready for the attack.

  He wondered briefly where the Jackalopes were. Maybe they’d get lucky, and not have to face them at all. Probably not.

  Hoyt’s feet touched the ground first. Everyone else joined soon after, and they took a few minutes to rest on the rocky beach.

  “We’re really here,” Birdie said, staring out at the Ten Pillars, her eyes wide. “Professor Asante wasn’t kidding. The Pillars are, like, totally ginormous.”

  “That’s not a real word,” Leroy noted, and Birdie punched him in the arm. They started to bicker, and it comforted Albert to hear them acting the way they always did in the Core, where things were safe and fun and free.

  The feeling only lasted a minute. The rest of the First Unit had gone to the water’s edge, and Albert, Birdie, and Leroy joined them. Albert bent down and stuck his hand in. Cold was an understatement. Freezing didn’t quite cut it, either. Bone-shattering, teeth-trembling, limb-snapping punishment was more like it.

  “We’re definitely going to need those gloves and booties and hoods,” Albert called over his shoulder. Everyone unzipped their backpacks and put on the neoprene gloves and booties. Leroy took off his glasses and replaced them with the vision-correcting goggles Professor Asante had given him.

  Albert stepped into the water up to his ankles. “Much better,” he said. It was still cold, but not as horrible as before.

  “Remember—we stick together!” Leroy shouted from the right.

  “Definitely!” Albert answered.

  To his left, Slink and Hoyt nodded, and to his right, Birdie just looked like she wanted to punch the water for daring to be so cold.

  “On the count of three,” Albert shouted. “One, two, three!”

  They swam as best they could, heading toward the Pillars.

  The Pillars stood as thick around as the Troll Tree in the woods outside of Herman, and they moved at such high speeds that great waves raged around them.

  One of the waves slapped Albert in the face, and he swallowed salty seawater. He could feel the current tugging at his legs, like a great invisible hand, trying to suck him under. He and Birdie would be fine, with her Water Tile and his Master Tile, but everyone else would struggle the closer they got.

  “We should link together!” Albert said. “Do what we did with Leroy in the Pit!”

  It was awkward at first, for Albert to link arms with Hoyt, but they did it anyway.

  “Can you use your Speed to swim with Birdie and me?” Albert yelled over the wind and the waves. Another one slapped him in the face, and he narrowly avoided bumping heads with Birdie.

  “Is that even a question?” Hoyt yelled back. “Let’s do this.”

  He kicked his legs like crazy, and Birdie and Albert followed suit. Soon, they were soaring across the waters like a pod of dolphins, all six of them linked together as strong as a chain. If they could swim fast enough to launch Slink, Mo, and Leroy to Pillars, then Birdie, Albert, and Hoyt could get to theirs on their own. But these Pillars weren’t the pathetic Pit stand-ins. These were the real deal. They stood much too far apart for the Balance Keepers to jump between. Even Albert, with his Master Tile, probably wouldn’t be able to make that leap.

  It’s almost as if the traitor knows the limits of my Tile, Albert thought. The idea chilled him more than the freezing water did.

  And, just as they swam up to the first Pillar, a blue fin appeared in the waves.

  “HAMMERFIN!” Slink and Hoyt shouted at once.

  They all stopped swimming and watched as the giant blue shark leaped from the waters, soaring so high into the air that Albert was sure it was going to make it to the top and try to destroy the Pillar.

  Instead, the Hammerfin turned in midair, doing a backflip that could rival the best Olympian diver. Then it rocketed down from the sky, its hammer-like head aimed right at Slink and Hoyt.

  “SWIM!” Albert screamed.

  Their human chain broke. They dove, fighting against the waves to escape the Hammerfin’s destruction.

  A wave exploded across from Albert as he watched the creature make impact. Water sprayed his face, getting salt into his eyes. When he blinked it away, he saw that the Hammerfin had missed Hoyt by just an inch. As the creature disappeared beneath the waves, Hoyt started screaming his head off.

  “GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

  Mo grabbed him, trying to calm him down, which Hoyt took as his cue to whizz off across the waters, with Mo clinging onto him for dear life. Hoyt kicked his legs so fast that he practically launched them out of the waves, landing them like flies on the side of the nearest Pillar. They clung to it, dripping wet and trembling. “We’re good!” Mo called out. “Keep moving like we planned!”

  “Let’s go!” Albert shouted, waving his friends along.

  Slink and Birdie went one way, with Birdie using her Water Tile to help Slink
swim fast enough to grab onto a Pillar as it rocketed by. Leroy and Albert went the other way.

  The Pillars soared past, like a merry-go-round on a sugar high, way too fast for anyone to grab onto. Albert helped rocket Leroy toward the closest one. Across from them, Hoyt and Mo began climbing their Pillar, and Albert could see Birdie and Slink in the distance doing the same.

  “The handholds shouldn’t disappear here,” Leroy said, as he and Albert hoisted themselves onto the Pillar.

  He was right, but now Albert understood the reason for the strange handholds in the Pit. As he grabbed ahold, his hand slipped on glowing blue-green algae. He barely had time to grab onto another divot in the rock before his left foot slipped, too.

  Albert and Leroy managed to hang on. Every ten feet or so, there were giant holes in the Pillar. It was almost as if they were climbing a humongous termite mound.

  “Aren’t there supposed to be Jackalopes in here?” Leroy asked from below.

  Albert stopped, peering into one. It was black as night, impossible to see more than a few inches inside. “Yep,” he said. “But I don’t really think I want to stick around to meet one.”

  “Good call,” Leroy said. “Let’s keep moving.”

  The climb was exhausting. For every few feet they moved upward, Albert felt like they’d move just as much back, and the Pillars were spinning so fast it made Albert’s head wobble and his stomach roll.

  Partway up, Leroy slipped and fell, knocking Albert down with him. They both tumbled into the Silver Sea. Albert splashed to the surface, coughing salt water, his eyes burning. “Leroy!” he screamed.

  The Pillars whizzed past, shoving wind into Albert’s face. He saw Birdie and Slink go by on their Pillar.

  “Do you see Leroy?” Albert screamed.

  “I . . . can’t . . . hear yooooouuuuuuu!” Birdie yelled, as the Pillar whisked her away.

  Albert dove under, using the Water symbol in his mind. Sure enough, Leroy was there beneath the surface, his foot tangled up in a chunk of seaweed, his black hair fanned out around him like a shadow.

  Albert dove deep, stretching for his friend. He quickly untangled Leroy’s boot, and they both zoomed to the surface.

  Leroy coughed and sputtered for air. Then he lunged forward and gave Albert a floating water-hug. “Thanks, bro!”

  “No time to thank me. We’ve got to get on a Pillar!” Albert shouted.

  They started their journey again, grabbing ahold of a Pillar just as it flew past. The timing was perfect, for just as they left the water, a flock of Lightning Rays appeared, soaring from the waves like birds.

  “Look out!” Albert shouted.

  He hung from one hand, narrowly avoiding the electric beasts.

  The Pillars swung round and round. Albert climbed, trying as best he could to make good time. Through the chaos he could see Hoyt climbing higher and higher by the second. It was hard to see, hard to breathe.

  Albert passed by one of the hundreds of holes in the Pillar’s side. It was so tempting. If only he could just duck inside for a second, get warm and catch his breath. He didn’t see any Jackalopes. . . . He dove inside.

  The cave was larger than he thought. There was plenty of room to stretch out, even stand if he wanted to.

  “Look out!” Slink shouted, from somewhere outside.

  Albert peered out of the hole.

  Slink was on an opposite nearby Pillar, waving one arm like crazy, trying to get Birdie’s attention. It was too little too late. Birdie was staring a giant Jackalope in the face. It had appeared in one of the dark holes, its antlers large as a deer’s, its rabbit-like legs ready to pounce.

  And pounce it did.

  The creature reared from inside the hole. Its strong front legs punched Birdie, and she was catapulted away. She crashed into the waves, far below.

  “NO!” Albert shouted.

  Slink dove into the waves after Birdie, and they disappeared from view as Albert’s Pillar carted him away.

  Albert gasped, suddenly, as something occurred to him. If a Jackalope had been in the other hole, then that could only mean one thing.

  Albert turned, slowly, to look into the darkness behind him.

  There was a thumping sound, like a giant drum banging over and over.

  A Jackalope raced forth toward the mouth of the hole. Albert screamed, but there was no time to react. The Jackalope turned in a flash and used its powerful back legs to kick Albert.

  Albert felt like he’d just been shot out of a cannon. All the air left his lungs as he soared through the air, then crashed back into the sea below.

  When he surfaced, there wasn’t any time to waste.

  “Albert, get out of there!” Leroy shouted as he swung past on a Pillar.

  Albert turned. His whole body went rigid. The water was turning yellow with flashes of light.

  Lightning Rays, by the hundreds, had appeared. They were swarming in the waves, like a fireworks show beneath the surface. They were heading toward Albert, and fast.

  Albert thought of the Water symbol and swam as fast as his Master Tile would allow him, then reached out and grabbed a Pillar. A hand locked onto his, and Albert looked up into Hoyt’s eyes.

  “Climb, Flynn!” Hoyt shouted, as he helped Albert hoist himself onto the spinning Pillar.

  “Thanks,” Albert said. His feet were barely out of the water when the Lightning Rays reached the Pillar. “We’d better climb before they start leaping out of the waves.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Hoyt said. His suit had a big gash in it, and his arm was bleeding. It looked like he’d been scraped by a Jackalope’s antlers.

  Just as Albert thought it, there was a rumble, and from the holes in the Pillars, it was like an army of Jackalopes sprouted. Left and right, the antlered creatures poked their heads out.

  Then they started leaping. Somehow, the Jackalopes leaped from Pillar to Pillar, using the handholds in the rock as little springboards. Every time their rabbit feet touched a Pillar, they’d ricochet off and leap for another, knocking down any Balance Keepers that got in the way.

  It was like a game of tag, but it wasn’t fun for Albert and his friends. Leroy was catapulted from a Pillar, landing in the water again. He climbed back up, and Albert cried out just as another Jackalope headed for Leroy, its antlers poised for the attack.

  “Leroy, watch out!” Albert shouted.

  He watched as, almost in slow motion, Birdie emerged from one of the dark holes and hauled Leroy inside in record time. The Jackalope decided to go after Slink then, but Slink was fast. He turned and shouted something at the Jackalope, using the power of his Creature Speak Tile. The Jackalope dove into a hole, but Albert guessed it wouldn’t stay there long.

  Slink turned to Albert and Hoyt. “There’s too many! I can’t talk to them all! You guys go on!”

  Just then, a Hammerfin bashed sideways into Albert’s Pillar, rocking it so hard that Albert almost lost his grip. Hoyt grabbed his wrist, helping him hang on.

  “You all right, Flynn?” Hoyt shouted from above.

  “I’m good!” Albert yelled back. “We have to end this, before it gets worse!”

  And he was right. The Counter said it had been two hours since they climbed down the cliff. Two solid hours of swimming and climbing, swimming and climbing. If they continued this way, they would exhaust themselves before time was up. They had to finish the job.

  Albert was about to call Leroy over so he could logic out a new plan, when Hoyt turned and shouted, “Slink! Come here!”

  Slink climbed over to Albert and Hoyt. He was dripping wet, and he looked like he was about to drop.

  “Ask a Jackalope to take me and Albert to the top of this Pillar,” Hoyt said.

  Slink looked like Hoyt had just told him to put on a dress. “I can’t do that! I’m not good enough yet. I only know how to say a few words to them, and besides, they’re angry from the Imbalance.”

  Hoyt looked Slink right in the eyes. “You are good enough, Slink. I
know you can do it. Just try.”

  Albert was grateful to Hoyt right then, for his pep talk seemed to have worked. Slink climbed back up and approached the hole where the Jackalope was hiding. With a deep breath, Slink climbed inside.

  Albert gripped the Pillar so hard his fingers ached. What if Slink can’t do it?

  “He’s got this,” Hoyt said.

  A full minute passed.

  Slink poked his head out and called down. “Get in here, boys!”

  Albert and Hoyt climbed up the Pillar as quickly as they could. Had Slink done it? Had he tamed a Jackalope?

  They reached the hole, and both Albert and Hoyt climbed inside.

  There sat a Jackalope, with horns as long as Albert was tall. It hardly fit inside the cave, and with three boys inside as well, the Jackalope looked like it wanted to bolt. Or attack.

  “He’ll do it,” Slink said. He reached out and patted the wild Jackalope on the neck. It flinched, and its eyes widened, but when Slink spoke something to it in Creature Speak, the Jackalope relaxed. “Better go now, while you can. I’ll go find Birdie and Leroy and see if we can tame some more.”

  “You’re a lifesaver,” Albert said to Slink.

  “I knew you could do it.” Hoyt grinned.

  Slink said one more thing to the Jackalope, and dove out of the hole.

  The Jackalope pawed the ground, as if to say, Let’s get this over with.

  Albert approached it first, his hands outstretched. The Jackalope’s fur was soft as silk. Albert climbed on the creature’s back and grabbed onto its horns for support.

  “No one in the Core needs to hear about this,” Hoyt said. He climbed on behind Albert and wrapped his arms around Albert’s stomach. “Got it?”

  “Got it,” Albert said.

  He wasn’t sure how to control the Jackalope. He clicked his teeth and kicked his heels, almost like he was riding a horse. The Jackalope huffed and bent its back legs. Then, before Albert or Hoyt could change their minds, the creature leaped.

  Really leaped.

  It was like Albert had been in a car that suddenly went from zero to one hundred in an instant. His stomach went out from under him, and he and Hoyt both screamed.