She stepped out onto a wide ledge, feeling a cool breeze drift over her bruised, semi-naked form.
Below her stretched an unknown territory; a territory that was not her beloved Land, for it had none of that domain’s verdant lushness.
It was dotted with low trees and bushes, both of a dull, uninspiring glaucous shade.
But beyond, nearly on the horizon, stood a strange hill. It was oddly regular, with a flat top. And from that summit rose a blueish column that might have been smoke but was not.
Shana stared at it for some time, forgetting to look behind her, back into the dreadful room.
There was something about that hill that entranced her. It was as if it had some strange magnetic pull upon her.
Surely this is what had called her up into the horrific hills she had just exited. Surely here were the answers that she so desperately craved.
She glanced back into the cave of horrors where she could just make out the congealed pools of filth on the floor.
With narrowed eyes she snarled: ‘Farewell monsters. It was your misfortune to meet with a warrior today.’
There was no longer any need for her to debate her choices or to glory in her triumph. Firmly grasping her new sword, she began to descend to the arid plain and begin the long trek to that mysterious hill.
She met many dangers on the way to her destination and overcame them all.
And so it was, at last, she reached the base of the hill and began the arduous climb to the top.
Part Two
One
The climb was arduous but Jon achieved it, although not without some stops to catch his breath on the way. The slope was covered with thorn-studded bushes that were hard to avoid and he had gained a criss-cross pattern of welts by the time he reached his goal.
He finally emerged onto a wide terrace which seemingly encircled the hill about two- thirds of the way up. And that hill was crowded with what could only be dwellings.
And all around were what could only be those that dwelled in them.
People.
Like him.
Jons.
They saw him almost immediately as he came over the lip of the terrace and a crowd came toward him, smiling and gesticulating to him to come further out from the encircling bushes.
Warily he obeyed. He was still not entirely comfortable with the idea that there were actually things in this world that did not want to harm him. But as they came nearer he could see that they were smiling and that there was laughter in their eyes.
‘Welcome! Welcome,’ the nearest called out as he came up to Jon. He held out a large hand. Jon stared at it for a few seconds before he realised that this must be some kind of greeting. He slowly extended his own which was eagerly seized by the other in a grasp that felt like it could crush rocks. Jon stared at the man as he continued to pump their hands. This person was like him but subtly different. Jon knew roughly what his appearance was from the occasions when he had encountered pools of still water and had assumed that if there were other beings here that they would look just like him.
In a way they did. Jon could see that they all had the basic plan of two legs, two arms, a torso to bear those limbs and a head on top of the torso. But now he was close up to one he could see that the person was not his twin. For a start, he was shorter but at the same time wider. His hair was curlier than Jon’s and jet black and Jon was shocked to see that these black curls extended over the man’s chest. Jon had assumed that only kabarras were hairy all over.
The man was speaking, speaking in an excited voice.
‘Welcome, welcome! It’s good to have another here to strengthen our numbers.’
Jon stared at the man. He had no experience of social intercourse and the only beings he had encountered before capable of speech had been the Lords of the Sands who had not given him such a friendly welcome. In fact, the entire concept of peaceful meetings was somewhat alien to him.
Eventually, he understood that some kind of response was expected of him. Looking the man directly in the eye he said slowly, ‘I am glad to be here. I am Jon.’
The man nodded as if already knew that. ‘Yes Jon21. Welcome. I am Jarz12.’
He turned to the others, who had stopped a little way back in deference to his apparently superior status. ‘People! Jon21 has joined us!’
Jon assumed that there had been some kind of misunderstanding.
‘No, I said “Jon”. My name is Jon.’
The other turned to face him again, still smiling. ‘Yes, Jon21. You don’t understand how everything works here yet obviously, after all you’ve only just arrived. But there’s plenty of time before we have to go up to the Gate of Light.’
The reverential way that Jarz had uttered that phrase made Jon think he could see the capital letters. “The Gate of Light”. He obviously did have a lot to learn.
Jarz slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Come my friend, you’ve had a long journey I have no doubt. You must be famished. Come with me – there’s plenty to eat here.’
The crowd parted to let Jarz and Jon through, all of them smiling as if the most wonderful thing in the world had just happened. All of them were similar in appearance to Jarz and Jon; similar but by no means identical.
Jon looked around at this busy township. He had gone from being the only human in existence to one of many. It was a difficult situation to immediately grasp and he felt more than a little dizzy. And then instead of looking around, he looked up. The flat summit of his new home was not far above and he could now clearly see that enigmatic column of blue something jetting up from its centre. It was still impossible to determine what it was a column of; now it was so close it shone brilliantly, outlined against the crimson of the sky. It was slightly different each time it was observed from a different angle – sometimes softly lambent, sometimes actinic and harsh. It reached so far up into the sky that the column shrank into a cone before finally disappearing as a mathematical point at some unguessable altitude.
Jarz tapped him gently on the shoulder. ‘Come on my friend. You’ll have plenty of time to look around!’
Jon and his new companion came up to the nearest building. It was well built, far better than the huts of the Lords of the Sands with strong pillars of polished, richly glowing wood and roofs of gleaming black tiles. Jon ran his hand over one of the pillars: it was silky smooth beneath his fingers and giving off an encouraging warmth.
Jarz saw his pleasure and wonder and grinned good-naturedly. ‘Like it? It’s yours.’
Jon turned in surprise. ‘Mine? But…’
‘No buts,’ Jarz replied, showing strong, wide teeth, ‘we all have our own homes here. Let’s go in.’
They did so and Jon looked around, feeling that his capacity for surprise and wonder was being severely stretched. The cool interior was hung with various types of tapestries and there was a window allowing comforting red light in on his otherwise dim surroundings, and, wonder of wonders, there were things that Jarz named as “bed”, “chairs” and “table”. Jarz invited him to sit on the “chair” and bring it up to the “table.”
Sitting on the other side of that structure, Jarz indicated the bowl in its centre.
‘It has a selection of cold meats, picked especially for you. Try. Enjoy.’
Jon picked up one the brownish, vaguely rectangular objects in the bowl, sniffed it warily, broke off a piece and slowly put int in his mouth and began chewing, ready to instantly eject it if there was anything slightly suspicious.
He stopped chewing after only a few seconds and stared at his grinning companion.