Chapter 2

The younger elf grinned at Remi and whooped, then as he caught up to Butu, he said, "Same route. Over-under, right? Edges and corners."

Butu nodded, feet crunching the pebbles at the base of the Finger. "Direct, or roundabout?"

"Roundabout."

"Sunset or sunrise?" Halfway up the Finger, he could see the sun just at the tops of the mountains.

"Sunrise."

Butu shrugged. "If you want the easier route, you can have it," he said, nonchalantly. "You don't have to give it to me just ‘cause I'm older."

Hatal snorted. "Brag later, if you win."

The four paused at the top of the Sentinel's Finger to stare down over Jasper. Hatal and Remi had their heads together, pointing and checking their routes. Paka stood attentively near Butu.

Most of the clan lived in or near Jasper, which was easily the largest town for a hundred miles in every direction. A cluster of stone and clay building formed the town's center. The first Ahjea children had raised those buildings hundreds of years ago when the first settlers came down from the mines at Pophir. Permanent structures and landmarks like the Sentinel's Finger mixed with dozens of tents made up the rest of the town.

Power started from the center: the kluntra, or clan leader, and his family and advisers, as well as all first-cyclers and their families. Single men and childless women, fosterlings and orphans like Butu and his friends, and the elderly lived in the rest of the town. Most of the adults were herders or miners, though a few did what they could to farm the hard, dry soil that surrounded Jasper.

Southwest, just at the range of sight, the Ahjea's army made permanent training grounds at Gordney. The cavalry and sordenu there guarded the only road leading through the clan's territory. At one end was Pophir, the largest of the clan's mining towns. At the other was the shanjin, a burning wasteland of shifting sands. Legend and history agreed the first-cyclers of the fallen Nagrun clan cursed the once fertile river valley, sinking the river and raising the sands into mountains. It was one of the earliest known miramani — a god-like magical feat — in history.

The Sentinel's Finger represented another miraman. A great guardian golem had protected the Ahjea during the Time of Kings, and to defeat his fiercest rivals, the king and his sword, Pisor, had buried the gargantuan, granite monster. Only its finger rose up now, stricken testament to the might the Ahjea once were.

Butu hopped on his feet a bit, relaxing his body. He could sense a new fountain up here, where one would never form without help.

Probably a first-cycler, he guessed. They usually get bored quickly, and if he was this far from the town center, his golem might've brought him home.

The top of the Finger changed often. A child's golem — her guardian and protector — would not let her climb its dizzying height. An adult would need ropes or ladders. But when the golem was gone and before the magic every child possessed faded, the third-cycler would come here. Everyone left their mark.

Butu had come up here first with Jani, whose older sister had left a pool and garden. Zhek, Jani's cousin and the kluntra's son, had transformed it into a fighting arena, complete with weak combat golems. Jani and Butu had made it into a palace, complete with a granite throne. Butu and Paka had cleared it except for a small hut where the boys sometimes came to talk all night. And now, another fountain was the central figure. Hatal and Remi drank from it with a shared grin.

Oh, not a first-cycler then. It would have happened at some point. Butu was fifteen years old now, and Remi and Paka were thirteen. Hatal had just entered his third cycle at twelve. A cycle was six years — how long it took for the three moons to match their orbits. Though little difference was noticeable between a six-cycler and a nine-cycler, a huge one was visible between a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old. Jani was nearly a year older than him.

How old were Jani and I when we came here the first time? he thought as he took his turn at the fountain.

Thinking of Jani made him look for her, down at the edge of the tents. She could disappear into anything, but she had not climbed the Finger for several months.

Butu felt his cheeks warm. We used to spend a lot of time up here, and not just playing king and queen. They had kept that secret from everyone in Jasper, and for good reason. The prospects did not look good for them — she was royalty, and he was a ten, a foundling. But the interest was certainly there.

The water was sweet and cool, and Butu dipped his hands in for another gulp. Slim hands gripped his under the water, and Jani appeared across from him. She leaned forward, as if to kiss him, her many-braided hair falling over her shoulder, but Butu bent back away from her.

"Not in front of them," he whispered, fully aware they could see them playing.

She laughed like pure spring water. "If that is what you want," she teased, letting go of him. She faded into nothing again, despite the lack of shadows on the finger. Butu — more award of her presence — felt her start back down to the bottom.

Hatal shook his head as Butu came back, wiping his hands on his shorts.

"Done with her, yet?" The younger boy grinned. "The kluntra'll bury you up to your neck for the snakes if he knew you two were seeing each other."

Butu grinned back. "Careful, you may be next. She likes the younger men."

Hatal snorted.

"Are you two ready?" Remi said. "Quick, now, before the sun sets!"

Butu glanced at the sun, kissing the mountain tops. Their shadows just touched the edge of the tents. He wondered if he could keep Hatal waiting until the sun disappeared.

Jasper bustled with late afternoon activity. Mule handlers hauled the stubborn beasts down from the mines at Pophir. Women readied fires to toast bread and meat for dinner. Children, almost all younger than even Hatal, played around their tents. A patrol of cavalry rode out to Gordney, in a hurry to get to their own homes.

He pointed out a particularly stubborn mule to Paka, but Hatal wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Come on, Butu, before Zasbey comes looking for us!"

They groaned. Butu grinned, though, and pulled his pryud out, tying it low over his eyes to block the sun. He clasped his friend's hand, and they whirled around to face back to back. The sun was in Butu's eyes now, but it would be in Hatal's eyes when he reached the end.

"Over roofs and under ropes," they chanted the rules. "Chase, chase and stay afoot. Race round the corner, race round the edge. Don't cross the top or you'll be dead. Go round, go round, roundabout, edge of town, the farthest route!"

"Ready?" Butu asked, eyeing his first rope and corner almost fifty feet below.

"Ready," Hatal responded.

"Go!" Remi and Paka shouted.

With two quick steps, they leapt off the Sentinel's Finger.

SYNOPSIS  |  CHAPTER 1  |  CHAPTER 2  |  CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4  |  CHAPTER 5  |  CHAPTER 6

Copyright 2005-2007 Eric Zawadzki and Matthew Schick. All Rights Reserved.
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