Aeron’s head shot up and he stared, frozen, back at the door he had come through. Another bump soon followed and the cabinet shook. Someone shouted outside the door.

In a moment he was back on his feet. He stuffed the journal unceremoniously into his backpack, barely cramming it in the top pocket. Another bump sounded as he sprinted towards the door on the other side of the room. He flipped the lock and pushed it open, diving out onto a large balcony.

Around him branches spread out from the trunk, crystal sconces illuminating them and casting twisted shadows onto the trunk. He pulled back his sleeve and revealed the mechanism he had fastened there earlier. A large box made of wood and metal pieces was strapped to his forearm. Two levers came off the side and a large three pronged hook extended out the front. He pulled on the hook and it came loose, along with about a cubit of rope. A lighter spider silk cord came out as well. It connected to a pin that held one of the three prongs in place. The rope and cord continued up his arm and into the larger spools in the backpack.

He had tried using the descender once before. It had worked well enough, except for the small hiccup at the end. He was sure he had fixed it though. He looked down over the edge. The ground far below him seemed to swell and his heart began racing. He pulled back from the edge. It was probably smarter to find a spot closer to the trunk. He dashed over and looked down off the edge near the trunk. The platform was supported by several large poles lashed together. He slowly climbed down onto one of them.

He set the hook on a pole lashing just below him and then, whispering a prayer, he transferred his weight onto the rope, standing on the bark and leaning back. Slowly he started walking down the tree. As he descended he held onto the rope with one hand and pulled one of the levers with the other whenever he needed it to release more line.

It was grueling work. Hours seemed to pass by. He looked up every so often, certain that a Sao-Vaarie would fly past and see him. After a while he saw several of them fly onto the platform above him. He was a good distance down, but he held still until they flew off again. They must have assumed the intruder had flown off. Hopefully that would keep them from finding the rope underneath the platform.

He continued on, the muscles in his legs and arm burning as he did. Even putting most of his weight on the line still left plenty of work for them to do. He continued down, passing by windows and other platforms that led into the library. Luckily they were all empty.

Eventually chanced a look down to see how far he still needed to go. The ground was a lot closer than it had been, but still too far to risk jumping.

“Almost there…” he muttered.

Then the rope caught. He looked at his arm in frustration and tried pulling the lever. There was no more give. He inspected it more closely. It didn't seem jammed. He pulled back his sleeve more and saw a red mark on the rope. He was out of line.

He set himself against the tree, jamming his feet into the rough bark. Taking his weight off the mechanism. Once he felt stable enough he took a deep breath, then pulled the other lever on his arm.

Nothing happened.

He pulled it again.

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Still nothing.

He cursed under his breath and took a closer look at the mechanism. The second lever should have pulled on the smaller thread line, releasing the pin and unhooking it from the lash above. When he pulled the lever it only seemed to go halfway. It must have jammed up above.

This was the same thing that had happened when he had tested it out before in the desert. The cliff there had been much smaller though. He shivered as he looked back down toward the ground. His arms felt more worn out than they had a few minutes ago, and the muscles in his legs were starting to stiffen.

He fiddled with the mechanism on his arm again. He had even replaced all the parts since last time. Why wasnt it working?

“I need wonder.” He whispered.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember the desert again, but just as before nothing happened. No wonder flowed through him and made the descender work magically. He opened his eyes and scanned the ground below. There had to be some way to get down.

Something caught his eye. The rope leading up to the bell on the first platform. It was on his left around the side of the tree. Perhaps he was close enough to reach it and use it to get the rest of the way down. If it would take his weight.

He tested the line. The last thing he needed was for the descender to start working and detach itself as he was climbing over. The rope still held him.

Gradually he started making his way over to the left, putting his weight on the line and hopping to the side until the bell rope was right above him.

Unfortunately it was about five cubits away from the trunk.

He looked down again. He was about halfway between the ground and the first platform. He might survive jumping, but he might also break a leg in the process. He looked back up at the bell rope. How could he bring it in?

He scanned the ground again. Then he saw the bush. Quail! He looked up to see if there were any Sao-Vaarie around. None seemed to be nearby, although he could barely make out a few flying around further above.

Sticking his fingers in his mouth he gave a sharp whistle, then cringed. Hopefully no one had heard that. The bush shook for a moment and Quail stuck his head out, ears twisting around trying to locate Aeron.

“Up here!” Aeron waved his hand, shouting as quietly as he could. The rabbit’s head perked up as he looked up to where Aeron clung to the side of the tree. He loped over until he was under Aeron and stood up on his hind legs, nose twitching, front paw up against the tree.

Aeron pointed at the bell rope,

“Bring it!”

Quail twisted around and looked straight back into the forest, toward where Aeron was pointing. Missing the rope entirely. “No! The rope!” He pointed further down to where the end of the rope was. Quail twisted back, then looked again, this time spotting the rope. He bounced over to it.

“Yes! Bring the rope! Good boy!”

Quail extended his neck, inspecting the end of the rope. Then started nibbling on it.

“No! Bad rabbit! Bring!” Aeron said, gesturing toward himself wildly.

Quail twisted his neck around again to look at Aeron, still with a mouthful of rope.

“Bring!”

The rabbit gave a jerk of his head and pulled the rope. Above them the bell sounded loudly.

Aeron ran his palm down his face. “I guess I know what command we’re working on next.”

“You down there! Stop!” A loud voice shouted from above. Aeron jumped in surprise and barely managed to catch himself before he slipped. He craned his neck up and saw a Sao-Vaarie guard flying slowly down towards them from the tree top.