Rivers of Fire

  Rivers of Fire (Atherton #2)

  Patrick Carman

  For David Carlson at agros.org

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THE WORLD OF ATHERTON viii

  THE KEY CHARACTERS ON ATHERTON xi

  PART 1: EXODUS

  CHAPTER 1: Edgar Returns Home 5

  CHAPTER 2: Intruders 10

  CHAPTER 3: Mysterious Companions 21

  CHAPTER 4: Unseen Ladders 27

  CHAPTER 5: A House Divided 35

  CHAPTER 6: Into the Hollow 41

  CHAPTER 7: Dawn Breaks on a Changed World 50

  CHAPTER 8: The Falling Rope 59

  CHAPTER 9: An Unnatural Quiet 70

  CHAPTER 10: Flying Rocks 78

  CHAPTER 11: A Plan Set in Motion 85

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  PART 2: MULCIBER

  CHAPTER 12: Two Parties Unite 99

  CHAPTER 13: The Secret at the Source 112

  CHAPTER 14: The Yellow Line 122

  CHAPTER 15: One Village Remains 131

  CHAPTER 16: Mulciber 137

  CHAPTER 17: Dr. Harding's Laboratory 147

  CHAPTER 18: Unlocking Dr. Harding's Brain 153

  CHAPTER 19: A Cleaner in the Grove 166

  CHAPTER 20: A Motherless World 176

  CHAPTER 21: The Cavern 185

  CHAPTER 22: Inside Atherton 195

  CHAPTER 23: Night in the Grove 199

  CHAPTER 24: The Keeper of Atherton 206

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  PART 3: INVERSION

  CHAPTER 25: A Storm in the Highlands 217

  CHAPTER 26: The Nubian 224

  CHAPTER 27: Across the Valley Floor 232

  CHAPTER 28: Flight from the Grove 241

  CHAPTER 29: The Inferno 248

  CHAPTER 30: A Thousand Cleaners 261

  CHAPTER 31: The Flood 269

  CHAPTER 32: Edgar's Departure 282

  CHAPTER 33: Reunited 289

  CHAPTER 34: One Year Later 294

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  THE WORLD OF ATHERTON A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  If you read The House of Power but it's been a while since you turned the last page, you might benefit from this brief reintroduction to the story and the characters of Atherton. If, on the other hand, you know nothing of the climbing boy Edgar, the disappearance of Dr. Maximus Harding, or the collapse of the three levels of Atherton, then this introduction is essential reading. See you on the inside!

  ***

  Atherton is a made world, forged by the mind of a madman. It is inhabited by volunteers from the Dark Planet, a future Earth ravaged by pollution and overpopulation. Every inhabitant of Atherton has undergone a kind of memory retraining, leaving

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  them under the assumption that Atherton is the only world that's ever been, the only place they've ever known.

  Atherton was originally created on three circular levels, each one smaller than the level below it. The lowest level--the Flatlands--was a vast, barren, and largely unknown place. The middle level was known as Tabletop and contained most of Atherton's people, all of whom were poor laborers charged with maintaining the groves of trees or herds of livestock that provided all means of sustenance. At the top were the lush and beautiful Highlands, inhabited by the ruling class who controlled the sole source of water. These levels--the Flatlands, Tabletop, and the Highlands--were all separated by treacherous cliffs that established almost complete separation between the lands. But that distance exists no more.

  I refer to these places in the past tense because when the second book of Atherton begins, the world of Atherton is not at all like it is described above. Throughout The House of Power, Atherton experiences catastrophic changes that alter everything about the world the characters live in. The Highlands descended until no cliffs remained and the ruling class was forced to come face-to-face with the people of Tabletop. The two lands were made one. Soon after, the joined lands of Tabletop and the Highlands moved down as well, until they came even with the Flatlands. When Inversion starts, the world of Atherton is, quite literally, flat. The images below, drawn by Dr. Maximus Harding, will help you better understand what happened to Atherton in The House of Power.

  As Atherton changed, people from all three levels were

  x

  ***

  forced to confront one another, choose sides, and ultimately decide whether they would stand together or apart against a mounting threat that rose up from the Flatlands--a threat that draws near as Rivers of Fire begins.

  Atherton is changing once more, in ways that even those who were involved in making this world could not have predicted. For there is only one who knows the whole truth--Dr. Maximus Harding--and he has been missing for a very long time. It is in this book that we shall discover the whole truth of the matter.

  Patrick Carman

  xi

  THE KEY CHARACTERS ON ATHERTON Edgar

  A young orphan who lived in the fig grove on Tabletop, climbing the cliffs of Atherton in secret. In his search for answers to Atherton's destiny, he became the only person on Atherton to have climbed above to the Highlands or below to the Flatlands. He is now allied with Dr. Kincaid and Vincent, mysterious dwellers of the Flatlands.

  Samuel

  A boy of the Highlands who is caught between two worlds by his relationship with Edgar and Isabel, two children of the grove on Tabletop. He is a smart boy, not physically strong, and his father has been missing and presumed dead for over a year. He lived within the House of Power until he escaped in search of Edgar.

  xii

  Isabel

  A wily and bright girl of the grove, she is thrust into a clash with the Highlands when it is discovered that she can use a sling with great skill. She passes on her knowledge and strikes a near lethal blow to Lord Phineus, the leader of the Highlands. When Inversion begins, Samuel and Isabel are secretly making their way back to the House of Power. They are searching for the only source of water on Atherton, its flow ceased by the evil hand of Lord Phineus.

  Vincent

  A protector of people on Atherton, he is charged with watching over Dr. Kincaid, a scientist trapped in the Flatlands. But when the three worlds of Atherton collide, Vincent's true mission is revealed: to help his companions find Dr. Harding and uncover the real nature of the world he created.

  Dr. Maximus Harding

  The creator of Atherton, a mysterious man of science who has been missing for years. Gone mad during the making of Atherton, Dr. Harding is thought to be alive but lost, both physically and mentally.

  Dr. Luther Mead Kincaid

  An old man of science, presumed at one time to be Edgar's father but later discovered to be a mentoring figure to Dr. Maximus Harding, Dr. Kincaid has lost control of the world he

  xiii

  helped build. When Rivers of Fire begins, he is traveling with Vincent and Edgar in search of answers about the maker of Atherton.

  Lord Phineus

  The cruel ruler of the Highlands and all of Atherton. When Rivers of Fire begins, he has crept beneath the House of Power by a secret way known only to a few.

  Sir Emerik

  Lord Phineus's longtime ally, he is also a conniving and wicked man with secret aspirations to rule all of Atherton.

  Horace

  The lead guard in the House of Power, he has turned against Lord Phineus and is mounting a plan of his own to unify the people of Atherton against the coming threat: violent, monstrous creatures from the Flatlands known as Cleaners, once trapped in the Flatlands, now free to roam all of Atherton in search of food.

  Wallace

  The leader of the people of the Village of Sheep, one of the three villages on Tabletop. Wallace is the wisest and most peaceful of all the leaders.

  xiv

  Maude

 
; A feisty woman from the Village of Rabbits, one of the three villages on Tabletop. She previously helped Edgar escape Sir Emerik and becomes one of a handful of leaders of the free world along with Horace and Wallace.

  xv

  PART ONE EXODUS

  xvi

  xvii

  There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.

  A Sand County Almanac Aldo Leopold

  xviii

  xix

  5

  *** CHAPTER 1 EDGAR RETURNS HOME

  It was the middle of the night when Edgar entered the fig grove alone. A heavy quiet filled the air, and he wondered if everyone was sleeping, unaware of the approaching danger. He touched the trunks of the trees as he went, and this helped him find his way through the darkness. Though he'd only been gone a few days, he had a deep feeling of having come home after a long time away.

  His first few steps into the grove reminded Edgar of what it had felt like to sneak home after a night of secret climbing. How long had it been since the Highlands were looming far above on a pillar of stone? He couldn't remember for sure. And when was the last time he'd climbed, really climbed, high into the grey evening sky against a forbidden wall? He couldn't remember that, either. Time seemed to have lost its meaning.

  6

  "Don't move another step!"

  Edgar froze. Someone dropped out of a tree directly in front of him. He had let himself drift aimlessly into a tangled web of thoughts and emotions, and now he'd been caught.

  There was hardly any light at all, only a dim whisper of dark grey, but Edgar could see a man carrying a club in one hand and a rock in the other. But it occurred to him that he knew the grove better than anyone and could make a quick escape if he wanted, especially at night.

  "Edgar?" asked the man. He bobbed up and down like a rabbit, trying to catch an angle of light in the trees as he sized up the boy before him.

  "Yes. It's me," said Edgar. The two did not know each other so much as know of each other.

  "I've been gone awhile, but I'm back. There are some things I need to tell the people in the village. Can you let me pass?"

  The man let the club he was holding hang down at the side of his leg and peered through the low branches of the trees, then his eyes settled back on the boy.

  "Don't expect things to be the same as when you left," said the man. He was tired and unwilling to tell a young boy bad news. "Go that way." He pointed with the club toward the village.

  Edgar watched the man pocket the rock he'd held and clumsily make his way back up into the limbs of the tree. As Edgar walked past, the man spoke.

  "Is it true you climbed all the way to the top of the cliffs and back again?"

  7

  Edgar nodded in the darkness. "I did."

  "And to the very bottom--to the Flatlands---you climbed down there as well?"

  "I did," answered Edgar. It seemed that word of his adventures had spread.

  "I don't believe you," grumbled the man. And he didn't. It had been so far to the bottom, and so difficult a stone surface to climb. It didn't seem possible that anyone --let alone a boy of eleven or twelve--could climb down.

  Edgar walked on, feeling suddenly in a rush to finish his task and get back to Dr. Kincaid and Vincent. He had two similar encounters along the way, in which men dropped from trees, asked him questions, and let him pass. Each of them knew Edgar by sight if not by name. He had been a quiet orphan boy from the grove, a good worker, a familiar face. There were stories circulating concerning his recent whereabouts that were hard to believe.

  When Edgar reached the clearing before the village, he spotted a surprising number of wakeful men and women moving in the shadows of open fires. He did not see Mr. Ratikan among them and began to wonder where the master of the grove was hiding.

  Edgar stepped out into the open of the clearing and shouted toward the villagers. "It's me, Edgar!"

  A small group approached, a single lit torch among them, and soon the two parties were shouting back and forth as the gap closed between them.

  "Edgar?"

  8

  "Yes, it's me!"

  "Where have you been hiding?"

  When Edgar didn't answer, another question filled the air. "Have you seen Isabel?"

  This question scared Edgar. As he met the group in the middle of the clearing, he saw that the man holding the torch was Charles, Isabel's father.

  "Have you seen her, Edgar?" he asked, bending down on one knee. Charles knew his daughter liked the boy and had been hoping the two were together.

  "I haven't seen her in days," said Edgar. "Where is she?"

  Charles had the look of a man whose last hope had been dashed.

  "She's gone," he said. The voice was cracked and dry, full with emotion.

  "What do you mean, gone?"

  Charles shrugged and Edgar thought the man's shoulders looked unbearably heavy. A dead silence enveloped the clearing. Edgar's mind raced to all the places Isabel could be, for he couldn't bring himself to believe Isabel was lost. Charles put his arm around the boy and the group began walking back to the village.

  "Where have you been?" asked Charles, stopping short and looking down at Edgar. "There are rumors of a climbing boy..."

  Edgar took a moment to breathe deeply the smell of the grove before answering. The place smelled dry and dusty, like it was gasping for relief from a waterless world it couldn't escape.

  9

  And there was something more. Though it was dark, Edger felt a sense of discomfort at the thought of looking up and finding the Highlands were no longer there. Without the cliffs, danger lurked from in front and behind the grove in ways that it never had before, because the world of Atherton was flat.

  "I've been to the top, before the Highlands fell," said Edgar. "And I've been to the bottom, before the Flatlands rose up." Edgar looked up to where the Highlands had once been. "But I suppose that's little more than a legend now, because all the cliffs are gone." Somehow, Edgar got the distinct feeling that Charles wanted to believe him.

  They continued on beneath the canopy of trees and when they arrived at the shattered remains of the village, a small group gathered near a fire--Charles, Edgar, and a few others. Edgar told them everything he was meant to, leaving nothing out. He was surprised to find they already had knowledge of the Cleaners, though Edgar's description of their size and viciousness startled them. For his part, Edgar heard of Mr. Ratikan's demise and the battle with the Highlands, all new information he could barely bring himself to believe.

  But even the knowledge of Mr. Ratikan's death paled by comparison to the news of Isabel's disappearance. Edgar asked over and over again about her--where she had been seen last, to whom she had spoken, whatever was known. The more he learned, the more he had a sense that she was not only alive, but that she may not be alone. He suspected that Isabel had found Samuel, his friend from the Highlands--and that they had gone somewhere they should not have.

  10

  *** CHAPTER 2 INTRUDERS

  "I think we fell asleep."

  "I believe you're right."

  Samuel and Isabel were hiding in an abandoned drain carved into the earth near the wall that surrounded the House of Power. They had been lying in the narrow space for several hours, like a long snake that began with Samuel's head and ended with Isabel's feet. With the absence of water on Atherton, a profound thirst had settled on them both.

  "It's still dark outside," said Samuel, his dry voice only a whisper. "We should keep moving before light begins to creep back into the courtyard. We just need to be quiet and careful."

  "If you say so," said Isabel, but she was unsure. She wished Edgar were there with them. Isabel had always felt safe in the grove when he was near, and she missed his presence.

  11

  [Image: The House of Power.]

  12

  As Samuel started moving slowly forward through the drain, she began to wonder if their search for water would come to a bad e
nd.

  "Where are you going?" asked Isabel. She could hear him shifting back and forth and moving away from her.

  "Come on," answered Samuel. "It's late and the courtyard will be empty."

  Samuel felt a surprising confidence about his plans to find the hidden source of water within the House of Power. He had spent his entire childhood sneaking around this place and he knew its secrets. And more than that, in recent days he'd finally broken free of a long-endured fear of failure that he'd experienced since the loss of his father. He felt a new and unexpected boldness as the night grew deeper.

  Isabel had no idea where they were going, but the two went on in silence, dirt falling all around them as they proceeded. The drain rose slowly before them in the dark until Samuel came to a place surrounded by something much harder than dirt.

  "This will be a tight squeeze," whispered Samuel. "Try not to make any more noise than you must."

  They had come to where the drain cut through the wall around the House of Power. Samuel reached out with his arms and gently shimmied back and forth, making slow progress until his fingers touched the hard edge of stone on the other side. He pulled as hard as he could, feeling bits of falling rock stinging his eyes, until he made it to the other side of the wall, where the drain widened to a space big enough for both of them.