Chapter 21 – The Inverted Sky
Ilin slept the whole night on the dry platform of the sunken aquarium. The water around us was still, the ruins quiet. When she woke, the blue shimmer in her eyes was gone — her staff glowed faintly, but she looked pale and moved slowly.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Like I've run a marathon," she said with a tired smile. "But I can walk."
Ael was already waiting at the portal platform. "The next Anchor is in the Inverted Sky."
Mara groaned. "What does that even mean?"
"It means the ground is above you and the sky is below," Ael said. "Gravity is reversed there."
Garrick stared. "You're joking."
"I am not."
I helped Ilin to her feet. She leaned on me, but she was walking on her own.
We stepped onto the platform. Ael touched the stone; the symbols lit blue, and the oval doorway opened, showing a sky beneath our feet and clouds above our heads.
Ilin took my hand. "Ready?"
I nodded. "Ready."
We stepped through.
The sensation was instant and nauseating — the world flipped. My feet found solid ground, but that ground was the underside of a vast landmass floating above a sky that stretched downward forever. Clouds floated below us, and if I looked down, I could see the "ground" above us, with waterfalls falling upward into it.
Ilin gasped. "It's beautiful… and terrifying."
Garrick held his head. "I'm gonna be sick."
Mara clutched the edge of the platform. "I'm not moving an inch."
Finn was the only one who grinned. "This is insane."
Ael pointed to a distant floating island connected by a bridge of stone arches. "The Anchor is there."
We started walking. Every step felt wrong — my body wanted to fall "up" toward the sky below us. Ilin's staff kept a bubble of stable orientation around us, so we could walk normally.
After twenty minutes, the first Guardians appeared.
They were tall, slender figures with skin like polished stone, their feet magnetic to the inverted ground. Their eyes glowed violet.
Three of them.
Garrick raised his crowbar. "Here we go."
The first Guardian lunged at Garrick. He swung, the crowbar struck the Guardian's arm, and the impact jarred his shoulder. The Guardian's arm dented but didn't break.
The second came at Mara. She swung the rebar, it hit the Guardian's leg, and the metal bent further.
The third came at me.
I dodged its swing, rolled, and drove my blade into its side.
The blade scratched the stone but didn't penetrate.
The Guardian grabbed my shoulder — the same shoulder Ilin had healed seven times.
Pain flared.
I twisted, drove my blade into the joint of its arm, and the arm cracked.
The Guardian collapsed, falling "up" into the sky below and disappearing into the clouds.
I turned to the first Guardian. Garrick was bleeding from a cut on his forearm.
Mara was on the ground, her lip split.
Finn was circling the second Guardian, pistol useless.
I ran at the first Guardian, jumped, and drove my blade into its neck.
It cracked and fell upward into the clouds.
I turned to the second Guardian. It raised its arm to strike Finn.
Ilin stepped forward, staff raised.
"Ilin, no!" I shouted.
"I have to," she said.
She directed the blue light at the Guardian.
The creature slowed, its violet eyes dimming.
I ran and drove my blade into its chest.
It cracked and fell upward.
Ilin dropped to her knees.
I was at her side in two steps, catching her.
"You used healing," I said.
"Only a little," she said, voice weak.
"You said you wouldn't," I said.
"I couldn't let it hit Finn," she said.
I lifted her and carried her to the edge of the floating island, where the stone felt more stable.
"You're done," I said.
"I know," she said.
Garrick sat beside us, holding his arm. Mara was wiping blood from her lip. Finn was staring at the sky below us.
Ael stood, looking at the distant island where the Anchor waited. "The Anchor is there."
I carried Ilin the rest of the way.
The island was a flat stone plain, and in its center was a crystal pulsing with violet light — the Anchor.
Around it stood four Guardians, larger than the ones we'd fought.
Ael's voice was quiet. "The Sky Guardians."
I set Ilin down in the shade of a stone arch.
"We do what we've been doing," I said. "Hold them off while I reach the Anchor."
Garrick nodded, wincing. "Just don't die."
Mara spat blood. "No promises."
Finn nodded, gripping his broken pistol.
The four Guardians moved at once.
Garrick met the first, crowbar striking its arm. The stone cracked, the Guardian backhanded Garrick, sending him to the ground.
Mara swung her rebar at the second. The rebar bent, and the Guardian knocked her aside.
Finn went for the third with his pistol, smashing it across the face. The Guardian grabbed his arm and lifted him off the ground.
The fourth came at me.
I dodged its swing, rolled, and drove my blade into its leg.
The blade scratched the stone.
The Guardian grabbed my shoulder — the same shoulder Ilin had healed eight times.
Pain flared.
I drove my blade into its neck.
The Guardian cracked and fell upward into the sky below.
I turned to the first Guardian. Garrick was back on his feet, crowbar in hand, blood running down his arm.
Mara was getting up, her arm bleeding.
Finn was hanging in the Guardian's grip.
The first Guardian charged Garrick.
Garrick swung, the crowbar cracked the Guardian's arm, the creature hit him again.
I ran and jumped onto the Guardian's back, driving my blade into the base of its neck.
It cracked and fell upward.
I turned to the second Guardian. Mara was on her feet.
The Guardian swung. Mara ducked, swung her rebar, and cracked the Guardian's leg.
I ran and drove my blade into its chest.
It cracked and fell upward.
The third Guardian was still holding Finn.
I ran and drove my blade into its back.
It cracked and fell upward, taking Finn with it.
I grabbed Finn's arm and pulled him back onto the island before he fell into the sky.
I looked at the Anchor.
Ilin was on her feet, staff in hand, the crystal glowing faint blue.
"I can weaken it," she said.
"Ilin, no," I said.
"I have to," she said.
She raised the staff and directed the light at the Anchor.
The Anchor pulsed, the violet light flickering as the blue light hit it.
I raised my blade and brought it down on the crack.
The blade sank in.
The Anchor pulsed, the violet light flickering, then dimming.
A low sound resonated across the floating island, like wind through stone.
I hit it again.
The crystal shattered.
The violet light went out.
The island shuddered, and the "sky" below us brightened, the clouds clearing.
Ael placed a hand on my shoulder. "The Anchor is destroyed. The rift in the Inverted Sky is closed."
I looked at Ilin. She was swaying.
I caught her before she fell.
"You did it," I said.
She opened her eyes, smiled faintly. "We did it."
I carried her to the edge of the island and sat with her, her head on my shoulder.
Garrick was sitting nearby, holding his arm. Mara was wrapping her arm. Finn was catching his breath.
Ael stood, watching the bright sky below us.
Ilin squeezed my hand. "We did it."
"We did," I said.
She smiled, tired but genuine.
I leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"You rest," I said. "I'll be right here."
"I know," she said.
She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
I stayed, watching her, listening to the wind moving across the floating stone.
The rift in the Inverted Sky was closed.
Ael had said there were many worlds.
I looked at Ilin's peaceful face.
We would rest here, and then we would find the next passage.
Whatever came next, we would face it together.