Pillar's Shadow, Page 2

3 The firmament of Heaven

  Onyx led Rhine in the direction of the massive chunk of rock they called the Pillar. It rose up with the height of a mountain, but wasn’t nearly as wide or as rounded as the mountains Rhine was used to seeing in Canyon Land. It was sheer cliffs on all sides, just like a pillar for which it was named after.

  As they drew nearer to it Rhine was silenced by the awe such a steep and tall formation inspired. It was incredibly tall, so high up that Rhine couldn’t even see the top of it. It was covered in something. Strange…

  “Are those clouds?” Rhine asked, motioning to the top of the Pillar.

  Onyx smiled. “Yea, but don’t get your hopes up. It never rains here.”

  Rhine stood perplexed by the sight. He rarely saw clouds anywhere near Canyon Land, and when he did they were usually in the distance. He could remember only two times in his life when it had rained.

  “This way,” Onyx said, waking Rhine from his thoughts.

  Rhine looked down and quickly caught up to Onyx who was walking right up to the base of the Pillar.

  “And around here-,” he said, walking around the Pillar, “-is where we grow our food. Isn’t it something? By the grace of the Pillar herself.”

  Rhine stared at it, the green leaves, the array of plants scattered and contrasting a dark and brown world. But it was what made the plants come to life that startled Rhine the most. Sunlight wasn’t a problem, with the rays burning against his skin he knew there was plenty of it, but where the water would come from had been his question ever since he first saw the corn. And turning the corner, he got his answer.

  Rhine stepped towards the stalks of corn that rose up like spears. He marveled at them as he passed through, heading towards the side of the Pillar.

  “How can this be? Where does it come from?” Rhine asked as he dipped his hand into the cool, flowing water.

  Onyx shrugged. “Just comes out. As I said, it’s a gift from the Pillar.”

  Rhine shook his head. “But I’ve never seen water just… appear out of a rock like this.”

  “The Pillar isn’t an ordinary rock. Pillar’s shadow isn’t an ordinary place.” Onyx motioned to a few boys around his age that were climbing on the Pillar, just down from them. “You’ll learn soon enough, come on!”

  Rhine watched as the boys climbed up the side of the Pillar up to about ten feet or so, then climbed back down. They all had dark skin like Onyx and they were incredibly lean and muscular.

  “Why are they doing this?”

  Onyx smiled at him. “To see what’s up there, that’s why.”

  They didn’t know what was up there? It seemed the more he looked around the more questions he had. With every one answered, five more took their place. He told Onyx he wanted to look around on his own for a bit and, before Onyx left, he told Rhine to meet him at dusk and pointed to a massive sand dune just outside Pillar’s Shadow.

  “That’s where we’ll see the lights.”

  Rhine wondered, could they be the same lights? The one’s he’d looked at from across the desert? Maybe he could see them clearer here on the horizon, maybe even discover what they were.

  Rhine entered the small settlement on his own, observing everything from the unique one-piece clothing the people wore, to the way they socialized and laughed with each other. It wasn’t like Bly, or Canyon Land. Rarely did people laugh at those places. They were a unique people who worked hard whatever the task at hand. Rhine watched as men made bricks using water, old husks from the corn, and dirt. Watched as they molded them and built and repaired the homes. Despite his interest, and despite his numerous questions, he didn’t walk through the streets simply to observe the people. He was looking for somebody.

  From the moment he’d seen them, he couldn’t get her eyes out of his mind, nor her dark flowing hair. He looked for her throughout the town, wondering why Peleos hadn’t told him who she was. He thought about what Onyx had said, why people stared at him, maybe the woman was afraid of him like the rest of them seemed to be? They were nice, but he could see it in their eyes. They looked at him like he had a plague that at any moment would transform him into a ravenous beast. Rhine remembered how Onyx had told him that few outsiders come to Pillar’s Shadow and that made him wonder, how did I get here?