Chapter 16
Bleeding Mountain
Jared, Danielle, and Paul were in a metal, cube-shaped room. There was a round, iron door, opposite the portal, which no longer had light in it and had returned to being just a shallow, round hole in the wall.
Jared also noticed that the door, which was about six feet in diameter, didn’t have a handle. How are we supposed to open it?
He suddenly felt a light surge of energy throughout his body. He noticed that Danielle’s arm was touching his. He was tingly all over. Must be a reaction like when we put our kevanshus together in her bedroom.
As if it was a result of that energy being present, the door rotated like a dial one quarter turn clockwise. There was a click, the door retracted slightly, and then it started spinning rapidly and receding—screwing into the wall.
After a few seconds, the door dropped down, leaving a 10-foot-long tubular entrance to a dimly-lit room. A man, with long, white hair, a wrinkled face, and a dark-brown robe, stepped into view at the other end of the tunnel.
Waving them forward, he said, “Come on in,” with a huge smile.
The youths walked through the passageway into a small room.
The man removed his glasses, which had a telescopic, magnifying eyepiece over one lens, and put them inside his robe. He leaned down to Jared, Danielle, and Paul’s eye level and looked at them with his big, blue eyes.
“Hello. I’m Rohlwig.” He gestured for them to follow him, “Let’s go,” and then turned and walked over to the wall to Jared’s right.
As Jared watched Rohlwig, he wondered what a guy like this would be able to teach him. Rohlwig was old, his robe had several stains on it, he had strange glasses, and his hair was unkempt.
Jared smiled to himself. Rohlwig seemed nice but a little goofy, and he looked kind of like a mad scientist. Jared shrugged, not knowing what to expect out of Rohlwig or his training.
Rohlwig pointed at the wall. A large section of it became speckled like TV static and then disappeared. The hole was tall enough that Rohlwig could walk through it without stooping and wide enough for two people to pass through it side by side.
Rohlwig said, “Follow me, please.”
After Jared entered the foyer that was on the other side of the hole in the wall, he glanced back over his shoulder. Paul stepped through the hole, and then the wall sealed itself up.
Jared and the others followed Rohlwig out of the foyer and into a huge arena that was probably the size of six baseball fields.
Rohlwig turned around to face the youths and stretched his arms out to either side of himself. “This is the field where most of your training will be done.” He was obviously proud of the training facility.
Jared looked around in awe at the size of the arena. The field, which was longer than it was wide, was surrounded by an immensely tall, white wall, and the ends of the arena were rounded.
Also, on the sides, midway up the field, there were two exits—one to the left, and one to the right.
Jared looked up. Far above, the ceiling was covered with bright lights.
Jared brought his focus back down at the same time Rohlwig pulled a tennis ball out of an inside pocket of his robe. Jared looked at the ball, wondering what it would transform into.
Rohlwig tossed the ball from one hand to the other. “Imagine that this tennis ball is Earth.”
Jared wondered, What’s he going to do with that ball?
Rohlwig poked his finger into a large slit that went about three quarters of the way around the ball, turned the ball completely inside out, and exposed the rubber layer inside. “This represents Teruvisa.”
Jared furrowed his brow. Earth is inside Teruvisa? How is that possible? Teruvisa came after Earth.
Rohlwig said, “Let me explain. This tennis ball is just one ball, but I was able to make it appear to be two different balls—one fuzzy ball and one rubber ball. This is similar to the relationship between Earth and our world—one world that is really two worlds.
“So, figuratively speaking, traveling between Earth and Teruvisa is like turning a tennis ball inside out.” He turned the tennis ball right side out and tossed it aside.
“However, don’t be misled by this comparison. Teruvisa is not inside Earth, and Earth isn’t inside Teruvisa. It’s just in their relationship that Earth and Teruvisa are similar to the two sides of a tennis ball.”
Jared didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean ‘the relationship’?”
“Well, while they are entirely different worlds, Teruvisa and Earth have been fused together.” Rohlwig brought his hands together and interlaced his fingers. “So, neither can exist without the other, just like a tennis ball wouldn’t be a tennis ball without a fuzzy side and a rubbery side.”
Rohlwig had an interesting way of explaining things. Jared kind of liked it. Maybe Rohlwig wasn’t as odd as Jared had originally thought.
“I’m not sure why I showed you that. It just occurred to me a couple of days ago, while I was studying the matter warping techniques of the Law of Coincident Matter, that using a tennis ball like that would be a good way to explain the connection between Earth and Teruvisa.” Rohlwig paused. “I guess I just wanted to show it to someone. Anyway, you’re here to learn—”
Jared almost laughed out loud. “So, that thing with the tennis ball was pointless? You’re not going to teach how to do any of that matter warping you mentioned?”
“Are you kidding? I seriously doubt you’re ready to learn that. Unless Archemel and Terimova came right here to Cira and gave you all their powers.” He laughed heartily. “Jared, you’re as funny as your dad; that’s for sure.”
Jared’s ears perked up. “You knew my dad?”
“Yeah.” Rohlwig waved his hand dismissively. “I knew all your parents. In fact, I could tell you some stories about when I was training them that... well, they probably wouldn’t want me talking about that. Besides, we’re in a time crunch, so let’s get on with your training.”
He was right about Rohlwig. Nope. He’s odd. Jared nodded to himself. But, he trained my parents. He must know a lot of Diestro if he’s been a Master since before my parents were trained.
Jared could tell he was going to enjoy being trained by Rohlwig. Maybe it was Rohlwig’s casualness, sense of humor, or oddness, or all of those traits; but whatever the reason, Jared liked him.
Danielle half-raised her hand hesitantly. “Sorry to change the subject, but you mentioned that this place was called Cira.” She asked, “Is Cira on Earth?”
“No,” Rohlwig responded. “Cira is the small moon that orbits Teruvisa.”
Jared had assumed they were on Earth since he had only used portals to travel between Earth and Teruvisa previously. So, we’re not on Earth. Portals can transport you to other places besides Earth and Teruvisa. Good to know.
Danielle said, “Thanks. I was just curious, and since you mentioned it...”
“No problem. That’s what I’m here for.” Rohlwig looked around at the youths as if he was waiting for another question.
Jared didn’t have any questions; he wanted to get on with the training. He looked at his friends, and they didn’t say anything, either.
“Well then, let’s get started.” Rohlwig reached into his robe. “First we’ll need a map.” He took out a rolled up piece of parchment and then threw it into the air.
The parchment unrolled and then started to expand. Jared flinched when a blast of air and light hit him.
An instant later, Jared and the others found themselves on hilly terrain, facing the base of a black mountain. The hills were sparsely dotted with spiny-looking, grayish-green bushes and rocks jutting out of the ground.
There was rocky desert and a few plateaus on the horizon to the left. There were sand dunes to the right and behind as far as the eye could see.
“We’ll now begin your first lesson with this simulation I’ve prepared.” Rohlwig waved his arm, indicating the landscape.
Paul looked aro
und. “A simulation?”
Rohlwig pointed at Paul and smiled. “That’s right. We’re still on Cira.” Rohlwig spun around. “Everything you see is a holographic representation of the planet Tirum.”
Danielle asked, “Tirum? Isn’t that the—”
Rohlwig said, “Yep.” His facial expression became more serious. “It’s the planet where the six Beasts live.”
Why are we doing a simulation of Tirum? Is he going to test our knowledge of Diestro and Amatay by putting us up against the Beasts? But, all I know how to do is use beoveh. He joked to himself, I guess I could call one of the Beasts and talk it out of killing me.
Setting those thoughts aside, Jared reached out and touched a huge boulder to his right. It was rough—just like a real rock. How did he do it? “It feels so real.”
Paul looked down and kicked the dirt, making a little dust cloud. “Yeah.”
Rohlwig stomped his foot on the ground a few times. “That’s because it is real—solid matter I mean. Just think of the simulation as disguised matter. But enough about that. Here’s what I want you to do.”
Jared was anxious to hear what their task would be.
“Your goal for this simulation is to reach a cave, due north,” Rohlwig pointed up the mountain, “on the face of Bleeding Mountain—so named for the streaks of red rock scattered over its otherwise black surface. And, you must reach the cave before the sun sets in six and a half hours.”
“What’ll happen when the sun goes down?” Paul seemed worried. Of course, Jared wondered the same thing.
“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise,” Rohlwig said, withholding his secret behind a big grin. “Besides, it wouldn’t be much of a test if I told you all the answers, would it?”
A test? But, we haven’t learned anything, yet. What is there to test us on? Jared just dismissed it as being Rohlwig’s way—he obviously liked to do things a little differently.
Rohlwig glanced up at the sun, as if to remind Jared and the others of their deadline, “Let’s get going,” and started walking.
Jared mumbled to himself, “Well, here we go,” and started hiking up the foothills of Bleeding Mountain with Rohlwig and his other companions.
Jared squinted in the light of the bright sun. It was blazing hot. If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought they were really in a desert. It’s so real. Amazing.
After a short distance, Rohlwig looked back over his shoulder and waved his hand, indicating that he wanted Jared, Danielle, and Paul to pass him. “I want you three to lead, so come up here, please. Just keep moving forward, keep your eyes open, and stay alert.”
As Jared took the lead, he felt a little disappointed in the simulation. He wondered if all they were going to do was walk—there wasn’t anything challenging about that.
About a half hour later, Jared passed between two boulders and walked up to the edge of a dry stream bed that had been carved into the ground about two feet deep and was at least a hundred yards across.
Jared hopped down into the shallow ravine at the same time Rohlwig called out, “Jared, wait!”
Jared turned around. “What?”
Rohlwig had a look on his face that said, “Whoops.”
Jared immediately realized the reason for that look when he felt tiny stings all over his legs. He looked down. There were tiny puffs of dust floating all around his ankles.
“Ouch! Hey! The sand is stinging me!” He leapt out of the ravine and started patting down his legs, trying to swat off the stinging dust.
Paul asked Rohlwig, “What do we do?”
“Jared has been bitten by thiguts,” Rohlwig said. “They live in the dust of this wash. Unfortunately, they carry a very potent virus.”
Virus?!!! Jared started panicking. The pain was getting worse. And, Rohlwig was being way too calm about Jared’s dilemma. Why isn’t he helping me? However, with his next breath, the anxiety, pain, and frustration melted away.
Weak and sleepy, Jared fell to his knees, and then slumped onto the ground. Everything went blurry, and the voices of his friends and Rohlwig seemed very distant as he slipped into unconsciousness.