The Ivory Star

Chapter 15

The wind moaned like a grieving spirit, and Eric pulled his black cloak tighter about himself, blowing on his hands for warmth. Sordus climbed on tirelessly ahead of him up the steep mountain path. Eric wearily followed him, marveling at the man's agility and endurance. The path spiraled high, high around the steep mountain peak. The air was thin and bitter cold, and the wind knifed through his thick cloak as if it were gauze. Snow crunched underfoot, making the walking perilous. They had left Sanctuary before dawn to set out across the mountain range. Eric guessed the time to be roughly noon now.

Sordus stopped to look back at his struggling student, then said, "We are here."

Eric climbed up beside him. They stood at the edge of a great yawning chasm, perhaps fifty paces wide, cut by a raging icy river far below. A flimsy rope bridge stretched across the windy gap, swaying and whipping in the stiff gusts.

Sordus said, "Walk across and return."

Unquestioning, Eric stepped carefully up to the bridge. It consisted of two ropes serving as hand-holds, and one rope as thick as an arm, braided from many others, to walk on. Eric stepped gingerly out onto the rope, gripping the hand-ropes carefully. Sweat froze to his cold face as he precariously made his way across the bridge, one foot, then another. When he had covered slightly over half the distance, he looked back. His heart skipped a beat.

Sordus was untying the hand ropes.

Eric blurted, "Master, don't!"

But, of course, Sordus did not heed.

One rope fell, and Eric was left clinging like a spider to the other. Terror lent wings to his feet as he made for the other side. The other rope went slack in his hands, and he fell. His flailing hands caught the thick foot-rope, and there he dangled like a doll over the roaring river. Then he saw the spikes. The opposite end of the bridge bristled with them, arranged in such a way that anyone trying to gain the other side would either fall or impale himself.

He swung his legs up over the rope and started his journey back, hand over hand.

Then an arrow whistled past him. Behind him, Sordus drew another arrow, the point glinting in the gray light. Sordus's face was a grim emotionless mask. Eric halted where he hung, and tried to gather his scattered wits. If Sordus was actually trying to kill him, he would already be certainly dead.

"What are you doing, Master?"

"Preventing your return."

"Why?"

"This is your first and greatest Test."

"Test of what?"

"Many things. Your strength of body, of will, of spirit. Many things." His tone was nonchalant.

Eric took a moment to absorb this, then peered down at the river again. "How long must I hang here?"

"A while."

"I can't stay out here all day!"

"Of course you can. You are the One."

But he couldn't hang here all day! His strength would give out quickly. With desperate obstinacy he inched back toward safety. Another arrow flashed between his arms and tore a rent in the fabric of his white trousers between his legs. Eric stopped.

"If you try to come back, I will kill you, for our world will be doomed," Sordus said. "But if you obey me, you may live, and find something worthwhile in yourself, something that makes you the One."

So there he was, trapped on the bridge where he clung with his arms and legs for dear life, all but weeping with fear.

"Listen to me carefully, student," Sordus said. "If you fall into the water, you will likely die. If you try to reach the other side, likewise. This is your Test."