Beautiful. A simple word. One that failed to capture the view from the van windows. The Clarkes lifted their heads, and a new world greeted them. Mile wide trees climbed, their canopies above the clouds. The old spruces and pines were shrubs beneath the behemoths, the mountain boulders. The van rested on a precipice, its wheels almost over the edge. Main Street had risen up from the devastation below. Nothing else remained of the town.
And higher than even the trees, mountains whose peaks were the uplifted spires of the old world. And over these dizzy monoliths, rivers of water fell upwards to floating islands.
"We gotta, we gotta get down. Somehow," Pops finally said.
Dried monster blood covered everyone. It was hard to see, but Celestia noticed the gash on Pops'' forehead.
"You''re hurt."
"It''s fine."
"No."
"Celestia, stop. Get out. Get out with Conrad and push, c''mon."
With some effort, the Clarkes freed the van and drove again. Celestia took the wheel while Pops recovered.
The road curved down, where the shops and bars fell down a long dirt incline. The van crawled down the makeshift path, protesting every inch. The wheels threw up dust and pebbles that tapped on the doors and windows.
"Remember, only got the handbrake," said Pops, cradling his head in the backseat, the dogs licking blood from his hands.
Celestia applied the emergency break generously, not taking her hand from it.
"Where are we going?" Said Conrad from the back seat. CC pulled the terminal from her bag, tossing it into his lap. He pulled up the crude vector map. "The marker’s moving. Wait a sec, we''re right on top of it."
A shadow overtook them, as a great zeppelin passed overhead. Antique spotlights searched the landscape. A voice bellowed from its wooden bridge.
"Attention, Prodigies. Please follow your quest markers to your designated Guild Masters."
The message repeated, as if pre-recorded, and someone leaped from the bridge. They fell feet first into the wilderness below. The Zeppelin maneuvered between the trees and was lost to sight.
"This is such a nightmare," said Celestia, craning her head out the window. She pressed the horn. "Yo! We''re down here!"
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"They already passed us," said Pops. "Keep going. Don''t drive us over the edge."
"Yup, sure, Pops."
As they reached the base of the incline, the Clarkes looked back. Downtown rested upon a tall plateau, its edges arching downward like a volcano. City hall sat tilted, and an avalanche of dirt sent it downward. It remained a building a moment as it turned, and flattened into debris and dust.
"There goes that DUI," said Celestia.
The ground was flat and even, covered in a patchy, swaying grass, though the wind was low. Massive roots undulated, thicker and longer than redwoods. Such was their size, the van passed under or between them without obstruction. The great trees were barren until a mile or so up, where their canopies began. Their titanic branches did not collide with one another, a kind of crown shyness at work. Slivers of purple-pink sky peaked through.
Celestia breathed deep, falling into a lull as she drove. The air was now sweeter and purer than even the old Alaskan air. It was as she imagined the air must have tasted in pre-neolithic times. There was a flower fragrance unknown to her, tart and earthy. It smelled like a color she couldn''t imagine, or that didn''t exist.
Was some pollen putting them to sleep? Indeed, Pops and Conrad had each slipped into an uneasy slumber. Celestia hoped it was mere exhaustion. The dogs were still awake, one to a lap, though their eyes were heavy and scared.
Celestia parked, easing the car to a stop and sneaking from the driver''s seat, leaving a tired dog in her place. She didn''t close the door but left it an inch ajar, to not wake the others. She took off her boots and all the layers she''d piled on. From the back of the van she pulled out a big surplus army jacket, two sizes too big. She pulled it on, with a t-shirt and some thick jeans. She left her boots for a moment, wanting to feel this new grass with her bare feet.
The sensation grounded her to the reality of things. The grass was pillow soft, like silk. A glittering powder came off the blades, and Celestia worried it was like poison ivy. But after a moment there was no pain, and the dust didn''t stick to her skin. If it was a slow acting irritant, she''d cross deal with it when it came.
Celestia walked a way, not so far as to lose sight of the van but long enough to feel alone. It dizzied her to even behold the roots around her, never mind the trees. There was a clear line of sight in all directions, and she doubted anything could sneak up. And she realized that, till now, they''d only circled the same, mile-wide tree for the past half hour. Beyond its roots and the surviving pines, she could see wooden towers in the distance. This was the forest.
At last, her adrenaline faltered. Fight or flight no longer held back the emotion. Things felt real, not just facts she could look at in the abstract. She placed a hand on the mountain tree and gasped.
All her life, she''d taken care of her family, whether the others realized or not. Pops drifted from job to job, car to car, always just surviving to the next month. Conrad followed Dad''s lead and was aimless, even at 13. The responsibility weighed heavy on her. Now, life and death were in the mix.
"Breathe, CC, breathe," she told herself. "Accept it and move on, accept it and move on. C''mon, they need you."
The horror receded behind a wall, as it always had.
Returning to the van and the driver''s seat, Celestia took the smallest dog into her lap. It was a trauma dog, rescued from an abusive owner. The tiny creature was still nervous a year later, the memory of kicking and yelling lingering. Celestia brushed its wild fur. Animal and girl had bonded over a million pets. They both understood that they were very small things in a very big place.