We were both off now, trying to balance on our half-dead legs. We were being punished for too many sun-cycles of too little use.
“I have no idea,” she answered, as Jerath handed us both our bags. Emmy frowned down at mine, and I knew she was still trying to figure out how I got the pans and rock salt in there, plus enough changes of clothing for a week. If she was so worried about it, she should have packed for me. It was her own fault.
Wait a moment… “You have no idea what a barge is?” I asked, astounded. “You know everything. I don’t even bother trying to learn stuff myself, I just ask you and you give me the answer.”
“Yeah, that’s probably going to have to change,” she advised, a laugh riding her words. “But I’ve never read about barges, and nobody has ever mentioned them to me.”
“Wow. Guess you’re not all that smart after all. Guess you’re kinda silly. You feel silly right now, don’t you? You feel a little embarrassed, because you don’t know what a barge is?”
“No.” She smirked, grabbing my arm and pulling me after Jerath.
She’d gotten into the habit of dragging me everywhere since they announced our names at the selection ceremony. She probably thought that I’d have a panic attack, steal a bullsen, and high-tail it as far away from Blesswood as possible at any moment. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. But I didn’t tell her that. It was too funny to watch her watching me out of the corner of her eye all the time.
We reached the first group of dwellers, all stuck together in groups of two. I wasn’t sure how many dweller settlements there actually were in Minatsol—Emmy had told me once, but I’d forgotten. Either way, the number of dwellers gathered to the edge of the platform rising over the water hinted at a substantial dweller population. We all turned as one unit at the sound carrying over the water—like a horn, but long and drawn-out. There was a massive, floating platform coming toward us. Movingoverthe water.
“Agh!” I jumped back, grabbing Emmy’s arm. “What the hell is that?”
“The barge,” Jerath answered for her, folding his arms and grinning at thethingas it approached us.
Many of the dwellers closest to it jumped back, scattering away from the edge. Someone pushed me, another landed an elbow in my gut. Everyone was now scrambling back, trying to get away from the barge. Jerath was striding forward, so Emmy grabbed my arm and started dragging me again. I could make out people on the barge, now. Two of them were manoeuvring something down, snapping it against the edge of solid ground, forming a bridge over the water, leading from us to them.
“Come on,” Jerath encouraged, moving toward the bridge. I could see many other dweller-guides doing the same thing, encouraging the rest of the gathered dwellers to cross onto the floating platform.
As soon as I stepped onto it, I let out a pitiful squeak. I could feel the water moving beneath, rocking me gently back and forth. It was terrifying … until I noticed Emmy laughing, and then I quickly convinced myself that it wasn’t scary at all, because I didn’t want to look like a wimp. We moved to the side, allowing the wimpy dwellers to push us closer and closer to the water in their bid to all stand in the centre of the barge. I sat down on the edge, Emmy beside me, Jerath standing behind us. Our bags were piled together with a bunch of other bags, and I kept an eye on them because I was not losing those pots. I didn’t care what Emmy said, they were important. Between watching my stuff, I studied the barge and everything else to do with this water marvel. The platform was too thick for our feet to touch the water, but I could feel the spray. It was cool and sharp, all at once.
We watched as the island drew near: displaying a patchwork array of water-front houses; along with giant, colourful stone buildings; and imposing skyreachers. A very strange kind of building sat in the centre of it all, making it the centre of the world itself. It was raised up, on a hill, with a giant stone wall creeping all around the valleys of the small mountain beneath, gradually enclosing the very tip, where the strange building sat.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing. I wasn’t asking Emmy or Jerath in particular, just whoever answered me first.
“Blesswood Academy.” Emmy was the one to answer, her eyes bright, her cheeks flushed. “It’s exactly how they described it.”
“The academy grounds contain more than just the academy itself,” Jerath added, watching the peak with us. “The Temple of the Creator is inside those walls, and the Sacred Sand arena.”
We stood as the barge slowed, I grabbed my bag before anyone else could think of touching it. The large water vessel eventually came to a standstill, and we moved with the rest of the dwellers hurrying to get their feet on solid ground again. They herded us toward a path carved into the side of the small mountain, and we climbed right to another set of gates. Two more sols stood guard, just as they had at the entrance to Blesswood. I looked up to the top of the wall and caught another sol face, briefly appearing over the edge.
“This everyone?” one of the guards grunted at Jerath.
We had managed to draw to the front of the long procession during our walk up, but it wasn’t because we were particularly braver or stronger or faster than the other dwellers. It was becauseEmmywas particularly braver, stronger, and faster than the other dwellers, and she had been dragging me again. She was standing there now, not a single wrinkle in her expression as she brushed her hair over her shoulder and stood straight for the inspection of the guard. I was wheezing, my hands on my knees. The guard also inspected me, a small, sardonic smile on his face, before running his eyes down to the end of our procession.
“Go on in,” he announced, jerking his head to the side and moving out of the way.
This was it.I was stepping into what would be Emmy’s home for the rest of her life, and what would be my home for probably about half a sun-cycle. Maybe even an entire sun-cycle. All I needed to do was stay away from fire, tar, sharp things, pointy things, serrated things, hot things, breathing things, living things, and sacred things.
I paused, my feet stalling, my eyes flying wide. We had stepped into a courtyard with multihued stones underfoot and a giant, ancient piere tree standing in the middle, breaking up the cobblestones with thick, papery-white, gnarled roots. It figured that it was twice the size of the ancient piere tree back home, and that there were several more that I could see, spread around the winding cobbled pathways leading between academy buildings. It wasn’t the tree that had surprised me, though. It was the guytiedto the tree, and the guy standing before him, holding up a crossbow. He was blindfolded, and the guy tied to the tree was laughing. They were clearly sols, because they were bigger than normal dweller men. Bigger, even, than what I would have expected of a sol. The one tied to the tree looked just a little older than me, his bright eyes sparkling with laughter. I wanted to draw closer, to see the colour of his eyes, or to confirm that his hair actually was the stunning meld of golden-black that it appeared to be from this distance. He glanced over as the dwellers behind us also came to a stop, and he started to laugh even harder.
“Turn!” he shouted.
The guy with the crossbow raised his arm, aiming the bolt directly at the other’s chest, before slowly turning.
Turning … to faceus.
Jerath made a groaning sound, but nobody did anything to stop the crazy sol. He had the same golden tarnish to his hair as the one tied to the tree, though it was more golden-red, and his skin was a shade more tanned. He was also built like he tore up trees from the ground for a fun hobby. The blindfold over his eyes seemed to mask his face more than just his eyes, but I could still make out the infinitesimal smirk twisting his lips.
“Stop!” the one tied to the tree shouted.
The crossbow—and the guy holding it—paused. The bolt quivered … and everyone turned to stare at me, because it was now pointed directly at me.
“Don’t mind them,” Jerath consoled, taking a step back.
