Chapter 6

No lies this time.

That was the agreement the eight had made when they first decided on their plan to return to Thra. The Thra-kind were not going to welcome them with starry-eyed awe this time, nor were they likely to believe any stories about the urSkeks bringing knowledge or enlightenment. The best they could hope for was that the people of Thra would give them a chance to speak at all.

UngIm tried to keep his expression stoic as he heard Aughra's words, but inside, he was relieved. At least she's not ordering us to leave.

He'd known there was probably no way to have their mission succeed without involving Aughra. For all he and his brethren had spent two thousand trine on this world, they would never understand it as well as she did - even if they hadn't wasted so many of those trine wishing they were home again. If anyone would know the best way to locate the lost, divided soul of their dead leader, she would.

Besides, even if they tried to keep their return a secret, she'd probably find out and shove her way into their mission anyway. That would be like her.

Yes, he'd been prepared to face Aughra again. And he wasn't too surprised to see a scarred old Podling pointing a spoon at him and looking like he was ready to do battle if the urSkeks gave him an excuse. UngIm and his fellows had certainly done plenty of harm to the Podlings. The Gruenak standing by the Podling's side, either protecting him or seeking protection herself, was also not so strange, though UngIm would've sworn that race was long gone. Even the growling, bristling ball of graying fur (UngIm's left wrist felt a memory of pain at the sight of those teeth) was something he'd been ready for.

It was the Gelfling he hadn't prepared himself to see again.

Jen. The boy who lived in two sets of the eight's memories. One, short but violent, where they had feared him and hungered for his death, but another, longer and sweeter, where they had cared for him as their own child.

He was a little older now, a youth grown to adulthood, but looking at him, UngIm still remembered the boy urIm had nursed through the bumps and bruises of childhood. Cleaning and dressing his knee when he cut it falling on the rocks, or preparing a soothing bath the time he caught a rash from a patch of biting tockweeds - how happy the Healer had been when the crying, itching Gelfling child finally found relief. He might not have been as close to Jen as urSu or urSol, but he had loved him too, all the same.

And it made those other memories all the more horrific now.

But it also made their mission all the more urgent.

As UngIm watched, Jen drew closer to the female Gelfling beside him. Yes - she was the same one from the day of the Great Conjunction. The one ZokZah's dark half had killed, the one UngIm himself had restored to life. Even then, he'd sensed the bond between her and Jen, and if the new life the Physician could feel growing inside her now was any sign, that bond had grown even stronger in the last seven trine.

Which made it a bit embarrassing now to realize they didn't know her name. Jen had called her something, he recalled, but in the chaos of the moments that followed, none of them had remembered it.

Facing them all now, and feeling their distrust and fear, UngIm did the only thing he could think of. He dimmed his corona in submission - a thing normally only done before fellow urSkeks - and lowered his corporeal body in the closest he could come to a respectful bow. A moment later, the other seven followed his example.

To UngIm's relief, SilSol spoke first. Words always came easier to him.

"Mother Aughra. Jen. Peoples of Thra. I know my brothers and I have no right to a welcome here. Please believe, we would not have come without dire reason. We wish no harm to anyone, and we will stay no longer than absolutely necessary."

"Hmph! Seem to recall you said something like that last time." Aughra shook her head. "Still, suppose it must be urgent, if you couldn't wait for the next Conjunction to come all this way. All right, explain yourselves."

So they did.

Each in their turn, the eight told what had happened since their departure seven trine ago. From ShodYod's discovery of the vanished star system, to his finding that it was part of a larger, apocalyptic pattern, to UngIm's realization that SoSu had also likely known about it - and, more importantly, might have known a way to stop it.

As the urSkeks spoke, Jen listened with wide-eyed fascination; not only taking in their tale, but observing the urSkeks themselves. It was still hard to wrap his mind around the idea that these strange beings were the same Mystics he had grown up with. Their forms and faces were so different, more like otherworldly Gelfling than like the ponderous, long-necked creatures he remembered.

But their voices were still close. Even if they now spoke from their minds rather than their throats, Jen recognized urIm, urSol, urZah, and the others he had known so well. It brought a wave of bittersweet joy and longing he hadn't been ready for, and he couldn't keep a wistful smile off his face as he listened.

Finally, UngIm came to tell of how the eight had made their journey back to Thra in defiance of their peoples' leaders. That, Jen could tell from her expression, made more of an impression on Aughra than any part of their story so far. In the days after the last Conjunction, when he and Kira had turned to her with questions about the urSkeks, their history, and the now-fulfilled prophecy, he remembered her saying that they had first come to Thra after being banished from their own world, but had tried to keep that fact a secret from Thra's people. If they were openly admitting to being fugitives now, they must be desperate.

"So we ask for your help now," SilSol said at last. "Please, before any more worlds are lost. This is where SoSu died. If any part of his soul still exists, we need to find it."

Aughra gave a rough chuckle. "Well, your timing couldn't be better. Just so happens, I know exactly where he is."

Jen and the other mortals gaped, and a flash of surprise rippled through the coronas of the urSkeks.

Without waiting for questions (or giving the chance for any more interruptions), Aughra started to explain. "It must have started the day of the division. Your kind aren't from Thra, so you can't return to it when you die. I used to wonder if that meant you'd vanish into nothing after death." She shook her head. "Should've known better. Souls are made of tougher stuff than that, even when they're sundered and weakened. When YiYa and HakHom's halves died that day, they had to go somewhere."

Words came back to Jen from seven trine ago: could be anywhere, then.

Aughra approached the shining stone as she went on, "So the Crystal made a place for them. Part of Thra, but also outside of it. Like a pocket turned inside out." She lifted part of her skirt and made a fist inside the fabric, illustrating. "Every time a Skeksis and Mystic died, that's where they've ended up. And not just them!"

Her good eye narrowed as she glared at OkAc. "You remember, Chronicler. When the Hunter lay dying, what did Aughra do?"

OkAc hesitated. He did indeed remember - all the urSkeks did - but the memory was a dark one. "... You sacrificed yourself. In exchange for freeing the Gelfling prisoners, you let us drain your essence."

Kira gave a small gasp. And, she noticed, Hup was also looking at Aughra with wonder, as if some old piece of knowledge had finally fallen into place.

"Yes. And when that happened, I went to that place. Didn't stay long, but I remember it was cold and full of shadows. Cut off from the suns and the life of Thra."

She shuddered.

"And the poor Gelfling are still there. All the ones who died so you lot could prolong your rotting lives. Even while you abused and corrupted it, the Crystal tried to do what it could to save them. Now it's healed, but they're still trapped in that place!"

The urSkeks' coronas dimmed further. They said nothing, for what could they say? No words of apology would undo the evil they had done. They could not even claim to have not been themselves at the time. The Skeksis had been their dark selves, but they were still part of them; if they had not been, the eight would not still remember the heady taste and life-giving rush of Gelfling essence now.

Aughra's words had chilled him, but Jen's thoughts turned back to what she had said earlier, just before the urSkeks' arrival. "Aughra, you were telling us you'd talked to someone through the Crystal. Was it …?" He trailed off, hopeful but afraid to speak the name.

"Hmph. That would solve all our problems, wouldn't it? But no, fate never makes things that easy." She turned her eye on the Crystal. "SoSu is still in there, though. Divided, but there. Just have to find a way to get in and reach him."

The urSkeks exchanged looks among themselves, thoughts passing silently between them. As their leader, UngIm finally asked, "Is there a way one of us -"

"No." Aughra's answer was blunt and final. "Even if I did trust you with my Crystal again, you couldn't do it. It takes a state of mind your kind don't understand."

UngIm's temper rose a little. "Why not? Because we're not of Thra? You said yourself our dead brethren reached this realm. Why shouldn't we be able to do the same?"

Aughra sniffed. "Are you volunteering to die, then? Because that's the only way to get there. You have to place yourself between life and death, and you have to know how to bring yourself back again, if you don't want to end up lost forever." She looked up at the Physician. "I know how much you studied the death trance. Many times, your voice brought peace to the sick and dying. But do you know how to turn that song on yourself? Especially now, when you no longer have a body of flesh and breath to anchor you?"

"I'm sure I could learn."

"Perhaps. But lessons take time, and if your story is true, that's something we don't have. Me, I've had practice. Used to spend centuries searching the heavens in spirit, and come back none the worse for wear. This shan't be so different."

But, the others saw, she was not as confident as she appeared. "Just wish I could be sure they'd listen. Can't imagine the Emperor will be glad to see me, and the Master never did like it when Aughra told him to take some action. The last time I saw him alive, we didn't part on good terms."

"... Then let me do it."

It was Jen who had spoken.

As the others stared at him in surprise, he hastened to explain himself. "I never met skekSo. I've heard the stories about him, and I know he wouldn't likely listen to a Gelfling." He took a deep breath. "But I did know urSu. I know that he loved me. He was my family, teacher, and friend. I was by his side when he died. If he would listen to anyone, maybe he'd listen to me. And if I can get one half to listen … well, that's a start, isn't it?"

"Jen, no!" Kira took his hand, making him face her. "Didn't you hear her? You're talking about dying."

He bit his lip. "Not permanently. If a flesh and breath body can keep you anchored, I have one of those, don't I? I know it'll be dangerous, but … Kira, the world is in danger. You, our child, our friends, everything." He drew her close, dark blue eyes meeting light hazel. "I already lost you once. And the other Gelfling, the resistance … they sacrificed so much to make our world whole again. I can't let all of that have been for nothing."

Kira swallowed, but could find no more words to object. She held him closer, fighting down more embarrassing tears.

The urSkeks watched them, coronas flickering gray. Jen's words made sense, but they had already asked so much of him. Was it fair to lay this burden on him now?

No. But the universe was seldom fair - everyone present in the Crystal Chamber knew that all too well.

UngIm turned to Aughra. " Could he do it?"

"... I think so. But we'll have to do some work first." She pointed at ZokZah, NaNol, and AyukAmaj. "You, you, and you, come with me. And you too, Physician. Going to need your help."

It should have been a joy for the Botanist to have a chance to collect samples of Thra's plant life again. He'd spent so much time missing the familiar growing things, and when he'd seen the cool white Crystal Chamber filled with life and color, he'd been delighted. Not only by its beauty, but at the genius and labor of the Podlings he immediately knew had been responsible for the Chamber's transformation.

When he found himself working side by side with those same Podlings, however, that delight was snuffed out like a dying candle.

Teba, Dermag, and the other former slaves weren't unwilling to help him gather the ingredients Aughra had named. They understood the urgency of the task, and they all cared for Jen and wanted the best for him. But none of them made any attempt to hide how frightened they were of NaNol. What few memories they had of their time in slavery were little more than dark and distant dreams, but they had not forgotten which of the surviving Skeksis had been lacking an eye and most of a hand.

And NaNol couldn't blame them. Long before any of these Podlings had been born, he'd feared that darkness in himself. His love for studying, tending, and making use of plants, so useful in his time as the Herbalist, had sprouted from urges to control the world around him - to shape smaller lives in ways he deemed best. When his dark half had been unleashed, it had been easy for those urges to warp into a desire for control over people , and he, his lighter half, and so many others had suffered for it.

But in one way, that desire for control was still useful. The Botanist still remembered every detail of the Thra flora he'd studied, from their ideal growing sites to their seeding and fruiting seasons to what parts of a given plant would produce the effects Aughra wanted.

Most of them, luckily, were easy to find in the meadows and groves around the Castle. But the final ingredient, ripe urdrupe berries, would be a problem. It would take days to reach the Crystal Desert, and even then, NaNol knew the urdrupes would have only just started flowering.

The Botanist started to levitate higher on the open grass outside the Castle, trying to judge if he could make the journey faster by drawing on light energy from the suns, when he noticed Dermag approaching, carrying something.

The Podling man gulped nervously, working up the courage to talk to the former Slave Master. {"Will this be enough?"} He held up a small, thin twig with three dry leaves.

NaNol's good eye glowed brighter. It was old and brittle and as good as dead, but he knew urdrupe when he saw it. "Where did you find this?"

Dermag gestured toward the Castle. {"The Scientist's chambers. I … used to work in there. I remembered there were plants as well as animals. After the Crystal was healed, we … destroyed most of it,"} he flinched, as if still fearing punishment, {"but we kept these."}

NaNol took the preserved urdrupe sample gently, levitating it in his good hand. "Thank you. Please, show me the nearest free garden."

He let Dermag escort him to a patch of rich, sun-warmed earth in the nearby village. The dry twig stayed upright when he planted it, and remained so as the urSkek drew water out of the humid air around them.

With his corporeal body brought so low that his shining robes brushed the ground, NaNol channeled the power that was his. He touched the dead little twig with his remaining left finger…

And Dermag and the villagers watched in wonder as life returned to the plant. Dry leaves swelled and grew green as they filled with water. The stem trembled faintly, sprouting roots and tiny new shoots. Trines' worth of growth happened in a span of moments, until at last a small but healthy urdrupe bush sat under the suns, its branches bearing several glossy red berries.

NaNol plucked them with the faintest touch of telekinesis. They orbited in his hand as he addressed plant and Podlings both. "Thank you. By this, you may have saved both our worlds."

By the time preparations were complete, night was falling.

Aughra, the two Gelfling, and the urSkeks gathered in the Crystal Chamber once more, to find EktUtt putting the finishing touches on a low, smooth bridge of crystal. It stretched across the root-covered mouth of the shaft, directly under the Crystal itself, shaped out of sections of the floor on either side, and was just wide enough to hold a Gelfling body.

"I do hope we'll be able to leave this up afterwards," he said. "I'm no HakHom, but I'd still call this some of my finest work, especially in such a short time."

Aughra gave a brief but approving nod. "It'll do."

In her hands, the ancient sage carried a small drinking bowl, the silver battered and tarnished with age. The thick liquid it held was so dark it was nearly black, but cast a faint, ghostly blue glow - a lingering effect of the glow-moss that had been an ingredient.

Guess it's a lucky thing we brought so much glow-moss back with us, Jen thought, looking at the brew. He remembered that the moss itself had been surprisingly tasty (once Hup had assured him it was safe to eat), but he had his doubts whether this concoction would taste as good. "Aughra, you are sure this stuff will get me in the right state of mind?"

"Yes. Tried it myself, more than once." Her voice grew soft. "After my son Raunip died, I tried all sorts of things to try and reach him. The Dousan gave me this idea, and I added my own touches to it over the trine."

"And did it work? Did you ever reach your son?"

Aughra gave a faint, sad smile. "That's a story for another time."

Kira stayed by Jen's side as he approached the Crystal. When they finally reached one end of the bridge EktUtt had crafted, she gave him one last loving, desperate embrace. "I'll be here waiting for you the whole time. So you have to promise me you'll come back."

"I will, Kira -"

"Promise me!"

He sighed, and hugged her as tightly as he dared without harming her or the baby. "I promise."

They shared one last kiss, gentle and hungry all at once, etching each other into their memories. Then, at last, Jen turned to Aughra again. "I'm ready." As ready as I ever can be for something like this.

Nodding, she handed him the bowl. "Don't worry. Tastes a lot better than it smells."

It almost had to, because the smell was like death: sour and cold and rancid, and full of dark and hidden mysteries. Jen fought the urge to gag, and drank the liquid down as fast as he could without choking, the way he might swallow one of urAmaj's herbal soups he hadn't liked.

Aughra had told the truth, though, because the taste was sour-sweet, like overripe fruit. It was strong on his tongue, but not unpleasant going down. Even before all of it was in his belly, Jen began to feel the effects.

The bowl dropped from his hands as a wave of dizziness swept over him. When he looked down, he could see his hands ( were they his hands?) starting to glow blue.

"Quickly! Have to get you into place while you can still move!"

With Aughra and Kira guiding him, Jen inched his way out onto the narrow crystal bridge feet-first. When he was in the position Aughra had told him - with the lowest point of the great Crystal directly over his heart - he lay still, and folded his hands over his chest in a pose of rest. Already he was finding it harder to move, a state deeper than sleep creeping over his mind and body…

Kneeling by his head, Aughra whispered, "Remember, Jen. Whoever you might see on the other side, you are alive and they are not. The dead cannot harm the living."

Jen managed to breathe out, "Where will I find him?"

"Don't know. But the one who sang out to me is still in there. Find him first. He'll help guide you."

She laid her hands on him. The eye in her forehead began to glow yellow, and she started to chant.

"Arugaru, omamora. Deratea, kemamora. Kidakida, ranumora. Deatea, davamora…"

The Urskeks gathered in a circle around them. As Aughra continued to chant, ZokZah began to sing a single note. It started soft, like the first breath of life, and slowly grew deeper, until Jen could feel it humming in the stone beneath him. One by one, the other urSkeks went around the circle, joining their voices with the Ritualist's.

Last of all, UngIm added his voice, in the bone-deep vibration of the death trance.

Whatever happens now, came Jen's last thought, it's up to me.

He closed his eyes.

To Be Continued...