Over the following days, the group was able to cover quite a bit of ground. They stopped at a fast-running river. “I don’t understand,” Luk said one night as they stood watching the water. “I thought we were nearly there.”

“This one must start quite a way off. It’s not running very fast. Can we cut across a place where it loops back and forth?” They looked at the map again and consulted the Protectorate regarding their position. “Two days,” Jal murmured. “Let’s tell them that in two days, we’ll have a resting day or two. A few are starting to smell really bad,” it laughed. “Especially me!”

Two days later, the group set up camp in a place with water on three sides. “The water’s moving faster,” Golsho observed.

“I wonder if I can catch anything?” Jal assembled his rod and looked around for a place to dig for worms. It found a place where the ground seemed soft. “No worms,” it said disappointedly. “But what’s this?” Jal looked around. “Morti!” he called. She walked over slowly. “What is it, Jal?”

“Do you know how to cook these?”

“Clams? You found clams! Yes, I know how to cook these.” She forgot how tired she was. Jal dug, and Morti collected them. “Now, to open them.” Jal handed her a knife. “Like this. Wash them, and bring them to me. I’ll teach you how to cook them.” As Jal popped them open and dug out the meat, it remembered the shell it had saved at the Wrentpids Beacon. “I never thought I’d be eating these! I never dreamed I be here, of all places.”

After two days of rabbit, clams, and greens for meals, and wearing clean clothes, they went on. They cut across the places where the river curved, and it began to seem as if they were walking on an incline. Finally, it leveled out. After nearly two weeks, they came to another incline. The current was faster, and rocks jutted out of the water. Up a third incline, they halted, bewildered.

“There’s no waterfall on the map,” Jal remarked. “Very odd.”

“Look!” Golsho pointed. “There are caves over there. I wish we could get across. It would be fun to go exploring them.”

Jal stared off into the distance. “What do you see, Jal?” Dr. Gyasi joined them.

“I’ve been here,” Jal muttered. “I know I’ve been here.”

Lallo heard Jal’s remark and came over. “Jal, was it in the dream?”

“The dream?” Jal looked around. “I don’t think so. In the dream there were odd shapes that stood above the water.”

“Maybe there’s another waterfall,” Lallo proposed.

“Another? That would mean we’re going uphill again.” Jal turned to Golsho. “Let’s camp here tonight. We haven’t had a resting day for a while.”

“There’s another reason, isn’t there?” Golsho asked.

“We need to look at that map. We need to figure out how to go west. We need to get to the other side of this river.”

Jal went off to find Lallo. “I need to dream, Lallo. Would you make some tea for me from the petals?” “If you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself. I need to do this.” Lallo saw how determined Jal was. “Our lives may depend on it. We must cross the river. I believe this is the place.”

***

Jal’s vision was fuzzy, then slowly, the blackness faded away. The river spilled over the rocks. Suddenly, Jal had wings! It flew high and fast looking at the waterfall. The water cascaded downward relentlessly. Jal landed on one of the odd-shaped pillars that stood above the water.

Jal circled around and inspected it. It was opaque and dark in the center. Jal flew to the next one. It looked like there was a person inside, holding his hand high. Jal looked at each of the other pillars and decided there were people inside.

Why were they here? Where the water poured down?

As Jal watched, balls of blue light danced above the water, then took form, and landed on the banks.

Eight pillars. Eight people. Eight. Eight balls of blue light.

Like a photo collage on fast forward, Jal saw itself and the others from the expedition. Jal could see people with wands in one hand and shields in the other. Friends, it realized, that it knew well. Jal, suspended above the water, watched as white and red lines crossed the water.

The balls of blue turned into bright blue, two-legged beings.

A streak of red shot across the water from one of the blue beings. It hit Ladi and she fell. Badas fell a moment later. A red beam crossed the water and bounced off something that was to the left of the waterfall. It hit one of the crystals. There was a loud crack. The crystal exploded, and pieces flew high into the air.

Another ray of red crossed the water and was deflected from the right side of the waterfall. It bent and reflected onto one of the pillars. It shattered and something flew into the air.

The third time the red glowing line bounced off a shield. This time it reflected onto one of the blue beings. It turned into a blue ball, then fell to the ground. Someone kicked it. It flew into the air and kept going. Jal followed it so high it could walk on the stars in the sky.

The fighters that had been hanging on the ropes, dropped, then turned and pointed their wands. Two of the blue balls shattered, and tiny blue particles rained down.

One fighter disappeared into the cataract of water.

The people on the left side of the waterfall shot various spells and two of the balls grew larger. “Those are flaming arrows. They won’t work,” Jal thought. Blue streaks were reflected consistently by the humans on the left side. Most streaks of blue hit the shields of the fighting group and others hit the rocks around the caves. Several balls shattered and it rained.

It seemed that the fighters disappeared into the rocks. Jal realized there were caves and watched a gold light emanate from it. Just before the sun came up, a group of fighters made a line. Very slowly, the sun touched the horizon. As it came up, the fighters took their places. The blue beings flew into view, but moved very slowly. There was no movement until the sun was above the trees. Blue lights hit the shields, and bounced against the pillars.

Jal woke abruptly. It grabbed its electronic tablet and began to write.

“We need to make a plan,” Jal said later as it sat with Dr. Gyasi, Luminary Dev, Golsho, Sage Elvan, and the two magicians.

***

That night, five leaders gathered in a council after the fire: Jal, Dr. Gyasi, Luk, the Luminary, Sage Elvan, and Golsho. Jal told them of its dream and the belief that there would be a huge fight ahead. “If we could send scouts ahead to survey the area, I think we’d have a better shot at success. I will be one of them. Golsho, would you go with me?”

“If we don’t return by two evenings from now, Dr. Gyasi, I want you to end this expedition, transport out of here, and pay the remaining members the full amount of currency that we agreed on. They’ll need to stop at the storage to pick up their goods, and all the gear that’s been assigned to them. If we fail in this attempt, we can make another try at another time, and go further west, then north.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Jal, you should stay here,” Sage Elvan objected.

“No. I’m the one who had the dream. I can piece together the details and what we see. When we get back, we’ll develop a plan that will bring us across the river, to where we need to be.”

“Would you take an electronic pad and make a visual scan of the area every time you stop, please?” Dr. Gyasi’s logic kept the group in a problem-solving mode.

“Yes. We’ll try to contact the Protectorate to get readings for exact locations.”

“If it takes longer than two days, would you consider staying on, if you feel you’re close?” the Luminary asked. “I believe we’re closer to our goal than we think.”

“Why do you think that?” They all looked at him.

“Because we’ve wound back and forth following a river that’s not on a map. Time seems to be different here. We haven’t seen a second moon in months.”

“We haven’t?” Jal was very interested now. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

“I believe that we might be in a section of the planet that was intended to be a mystery to the rest of the world.”

“What?”

“The Creator may have intended to keep this area unmapped for a reason. When the Protectors realized that something was wrong, they tried to find ways to get to the Stafriez that had landed here accidentally. Maybe the Protectors are watching us. Maybe the Creator is watching. Who knows? Here are the facts. We went northwest. When Jal said it felt like we were going northeast, the Protectorate told us we were going north. The compasses often spin when we try to decide our location. Some days we walk for what seems like hours, but when Jal checks in with the Protectorate, we haven’t gone very far.” The others nodded in agreement. “There are creatures here that are nowhere else on the planet. There are Nemori that seem to be from two different groups. There is a different kind of magic here. Two people have told me they feel like they are being observed. They’re uneasy. If we are being watched, who is doing it? And why don’t they help us?”

“We have plenty to think about,” Jal said. “I need to get some sleep. We’ll leave early in the morning. When Golsho and I return, we’ll share our findings with you, decide what to do next, then announce it to the group. Once again, we’ll offer people the opportunity to drop out.”

“Why? We’ve come this far.”

“Let’s wait and see what information we can gather.”

***

Golsho beckoned to Jal as they stood at the top of a great hill. “Is this on the map?” They were looking at what seemed to be three hills of growing heights.

Jal spoke to the Protectorate scientist who was watching them. “No. This is all supposed to be a flat, heavily forested area.” They looked at one another. “That means that somehow the satellite feeds are being fed the wrong information. There is no river and no hills.”

“Do you think it would be different if we got to the other side of the river?”

“Possibly.”

“Even if we got to the furthest western point, when would we walk out of this area?”

“Another good question.”

The two continued in a northerly direction, according to Jal’s compass. They became excited when they found a place to cross the river. It appeared that trees grew along the edges and there was a sandy beach. “I could swing across in the trees,” Golsho suggested. “Can you swim?”

“I don’t know how to swim,” Jal confessed. “But one time I was in the water and managed to jump across the bottom, and hold my breath when I went under the water level.”

“Are you willing to give it a try?”

Jal hesitated. “This is the best place to cross. Our people could cross here. There are trees there,” it pointed. “We can rest there afterward.”

“You go first, Golsho. I’ll watch you from here, then I’ll go into the water and cross. “If you can, see if you can see the depth of the water.”

Golsho wasn’t afraid. It clambered through the trees, then shot a rope across the small gap and made sure it had hooked on a tree branch. It went hand over hand and hung over the water for a moment. Golsho continued on and descended to the other side. “The water’s clear, Jal. I can see the bottom. The odd thing was that I didn’t see any fish.”

Jal went to the trees. It took a great running start, landed in the water, and bounced up again. “It’s not even up to my chest, Golsho. Jal leaped a second time, and stopped midstream, then waded across. “That was easy. Our people should be able to cross fairly quickly.”

Instead of going straight over the top of the next hill, Jal suggest that they go around one side. “Why?” Golsho wanted to know.

“I don’t know. I just think we should.” Jal was trying to remember the dream. Once on the side of the hill, the two look eastward. They saw two shiny balls of blue bouncing in the water. “Listen! They’re talking!”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Just a minute, I’ll see if I can figure out what they’re saying.” Jal couldn’t make sense of it, so it began to write down how the words sounded to it. The two sat for a long time, listening to the two balls. They bounced through the water between two hills. Golsho and Jal went around the hill to the next one. Seeing nothing, they crept forward.

The two looked at one of the balls. Water poured over the side of a cliff forming an impressive waterfall. Balls of light bounced up and down. Occasionally, one would bounce into the grass and become a different shape, then reform into the ball and go in the water. Suddenly Jal realized that there were eight pillars in the water and eight balls of light.

“We should go, Jal.” Golsho pulled his sleeve. “What if they see us?”

“Let’s wait. The sun’s going down. Maybe they’ll leave.”

The two waited, crouched at the side of the hill and watched as the balls quit bouncing and rolled onto the grass. They turned into an odd shape, then rose and seemed to fly over the trees eastward.

“Let’s go, Jal.” Golsho urged.

“We need to check out the holes in the rock, Golsho. I think we need to know what is all down there.”

They crept down the hill as the sun went down and slipped into the first hole. Jal lifted its wand. “Liketar.”

“It’s a cave,” Golsho whispered. “How far back does it go?” They counted the paces to the back. “Thirty paces.” He whispered. “Look, here’s an opening. Let’s see where it goes.” They went through a short tunnel to another cave. The opening looked over the swirling pool at the bottom of the waterfall and they crept back inside. They climbed over and under rocks into a third cave. Again, there was nothing in it.

“I know this!” Jal said suddenly. “I know this. I’ve been here. Here, Golsho, follow me!” They ducked through an opening into a huge cavern. This cave runs behind the water.” They stood in awe watching the water that gushed in front of them.

They paced off the sizes of the caves and wrote them into the tablet that Jal was carrying.

“There’s something shiny back there, Jal. It looks like it’s against the wall.”

It was a shield with a detailed design in the center. “Wow, it’s beautiful! Let’s borrow this,” Jal said. “We can look up the design and find out who it belongs to.” Jal picked it up and looked down. A vibration filled the cave and surprised them.

“Put it back! Put it back!” Golsho whispered.

Jal placed the shield over the same spot and the hum went away. “Wait! I’ll take a photo of it.”

They walked through the caves and out the first one. That night, they walked in the darkness around the hills they had passed and were ready to set up a tent under some trees when Golsho proposed that they sleep without the tent. Once they were in their sleeping bags, Jal lay looking up. “Look,” it said to Golsho. “There are no stars.”

“How can that be?”

“This is an artificial environment. My guess is that it was designed for a specific purpose.” They slept and were up at dawn. The following day, they returned to the campsite.

Golsho described their trek and what they had found.

“I believe Dr. Gyasi is right. This in an artificially created environment,” Jal said. “The Protectorate scientists’ map doesn’t match what we’re seeing at all. There is no river, no hills, and no waterfall. It shows up on the computers as a heavily forested area with deciduous trees.” It paused, searching for words. “Around the perimeter of the pool below the waterfall are eight pillars of opaque glass. I believe that the protectors are in those pillars. I believe that we were allowed to come on this expedition in the hope that we would free the Protectors. Isn’t that right, Luminary?”

The Luminary couldn’t deny it. “No one has ever been here except them, Jal. We knew they were in this area when they disappeared. But the lock had been put in place at this northern end of the area. We didn’t know why they were creating this place, and we didn’t know or care that the Protectorates had been destroyed. We’ve allowed and encouraged you to come here. We hope you’ll find a way to release the Protectors. The planet needs them desperately. Will you rise to the challenge and free them?”

Those present looked at one another. “How far are we from the Stafriez settlements?” Sage Elvan asked.

“Two days of steady walking,” The Luminary’s head went down. “I’m sorry for misleading you this whole time.”

“Quit that,” Jal said, frustrated. “We’re so close to the end. How can we get the Protectors free?”

Everyone looked at Jal. “You’ve had the dreams. You’ve been there. You tell us.”

“Can we have more information before we make a decision to go there again?”

The Luminary nodded. “I’ll give you all the information about the weeks before they disappeared.”

Jal took out its electronic pad. “Do you know whose shield this is?”

“It’s Mavdite’s.”

“The goddess of sea and water.”

“Yes.”

“We also need any information you can find on the Gimorans, the details of how to turn the artificial environment off and on, and fresh pizzas and alcohol for our entire group.”

“Pizzas?” Sage Elvan muttered.

“Yes, pizzas and alcohol. It’s amazing what people will say and do when they’re full and sort of drunk. Maybe enough of them will agree to do this, if we decide to proceed. I need to go to bed. I’ll see you all in the morning.” Jal turned away. As it did, it looked at the sky. “No stars. No Light whatsoever. Someone help me remember this. Those balls of light flew off to the east when the sun was going down. Maybe there’s a reason for it?”