“You gonna jump?”
“I dunno.” Baret stayed a step back from the edge.
“Tash said the big kids jumped last night.”
“Did not!”
“You weren’t here, you don’t know.” Krissen sealed his decision with a slow shake of his head, eyes half-closed.
“Anyway, you gonna jump?”
“I’m not jumpin’, no way.” Mayl stood well back from the edge.
“No one’s asking you to, I was talking to Baret.”
“Don’t do it, Baret, it’s way too high. You’ll get drowned.”
Baret sidled up to the edge of the rock and gazed down at the waves crashing into the base of the cliff. He let a blob of saliva drip off his lower lip, but the wind took it into the sheer wall just a couple meters down.
“Think it’s higher’n Glory Falls?” he asked.
“Way higher.”
“Higher’n Snow Hole?”
“Ten times.”
Baret doubted that, but he wasn’t good at maths. He gazed out to the giant structures that rose out of the sea on the horizon.
"You think there might be things in the water? You know, like, big things, maybe from the Sky City that fell?"
Krissen shrugged. “My da says it fell a long time ago. Anything that came from there is probably dead.”
“I bet they had babies,” said Mayl. “I bet their babies are still down there. Don't jump, Baret.”
“Da said it was a really long time ago. If there's anything left, they would be babies of babies of babies of babies, one thousand times.”
Baret nodded. “That's what our da says too.” He was quiet a moment, calculating. “It's pretty far out there. Maybe if something did come out, and maybe if it had babies, they stayed way out in the ocean.”
“If it fell that long ago, then those babies could be anywhere by now. It's not that far away, anyhow. I bet da could sail out there in a day.”
It was Baret’s turn to shake his head, his eyes fixed dreamily on the giant structures on the horizon. “It's really, really far. Da says that's only part of the Sky City, sticking up out of the water. He says it’s really bigger’n a mountain.”
“Baret and Mayl, get your butts up here right now! Bad enough I have to miss Deni’s name day to watch you bisra turds. You go get yourself killed, I’ll be grounded for the rest of my life.”
Mayl jumped at her sister's shout, but Baret just made a sour face.
“Now!”
The three shuffled off the ledge and over to the trail. Mayl took the steps two at a time, but Baret and Krissen lagged behind.
“I might come back next Moon Dark,” said Krissen, “and jump.”
“How long is that?”
“I think Tash said it was some day in Isom.”
“That's a long way off. That's after Midsummer Fest.”
“Well don't tell no one. I haven't decided yet.”
~~~
“Da?”
“Baret.”
“Is the overlook higher’n Glory Falls?”
“What overlook?” his da asked around a spoonful of broth.
“You know, the ledge you can climb down to from the cliff walk.”
“Prob’ly. Tash, what’s he talkin’ about?”
“The sea stair back down toward the Akre, away from town. Ends in a narrow ledge, that little kids aren’t. Supposed. To go on.” He said this last with his face in Baret’s.
“Yes, that is higher than Glory Falls. Much higher.”
“Can you jump from there?”
“No, you’d die when you hit the water. From that height, it would feel like landing on a rock.”
“Then you’d just be a puffy little body floating in the water, with the fishies nibbling your eyeballs!” Tash wagged his head and laughed.
“Tash!” said his ma. “If he shows up in my room with nightmares, I’m sending him straight to you.”
“No, thank you.”
“Da, did anything come out from the Sky City when it fell?”
Hi da shrugged. “I don’t think anyone knows.” He fished a shell out of the broth with his pick and started to pry it open. “I guess you got a good view of that from the overlook? You need to stay off there. I don’t want you to fall accidentally.”
His older sister, who had been silent to this point, sniggered behind one hand when she thought her da wasn’t looking.
“Yes sir.” Baret swung his legs and pushed the spoon around the bowl.
“Drink up young man.” His ma said.
“Must be huge,” Baret said at last.
“Enormous,” his da agreed.
“Humongous,” added Mayl.
“How do we know the city used to be in the sky? How can something that big fly?”
His da looked at Tash over the rim of his bowl, then set it down before answering. “A long time ago, some folks took a sail over there and explored it.”
“Whoaaaa!” yipped Baret. “That’s so cool! What happened? Did they get in?”
His da couldn’t help cracking a smile at the enthusiasm. Even Tash got interested.
“They found some kind of visions…or something. Anyway, that’s how they knew it used to be in the sky. Then there was a war, and this city fell.”
“Are there other Sky Cities? Are there any still flying?”
“Yeah, I saw one yesterday.”
“Tash!” his mother said sharply, then looked to their da, gesturing with a jerk at their older son. “Dannan!”
Tash shrugged, uncowed, but his father brushed it off.
“I don’t know Baret. Maybe some Artefexis know. But they’re a long way from here in Old Oor.”
“I want to be an Artefex,” he said with admiration in his voice.
“Now see what you started?” his mother said to Tash.
“How is this now my fault?!” he said, gathering his bowl and stalking out to the kitchen shed.
