{"id":140,"date":"2010-02-12T13:30:48","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T20:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/?p=140"},"modified":"2010-02-12T15:44:57","modified_gmt":"2010-02-12T22:44:57","slug":"chapter-twenty-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/atfmb.com\/Evermist\/2010\/02\/chapter-twenty-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Twenty-One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n

Chapter Twenty-One<\/h1>\n

Eli stood in the chill night air staring up at the Wall.\u00a0 Sleep would not come this night, but he wasn’t alone.\u00a0 He’d stopped counting the other men from his squad who’d been tossing and turning in the barracks before he stepped outside.\u00a0 It seemed that everyone had the same thing on their mind.<\/p>\n

The Wall.<\/p>\n

It loomed.\u00a0 How something black as night could still be seen was beyond him.\u00a0 The whole thing was beyond him.\u00a0 A Wall that tall, wrapping around an entire island… It was just too incredible to believe.<\/p>\n

“They grow it,” said a voice that made him jump.\u00a0 Turning, he saw the outline of an older man standing in the shadows of the barracks across from his own.\u00a0 The man moved into the weak light cast by the lanterns hanging on the pole at the crossroads between buildings.\u00a0 He was older than Elias, by at least ten years.\u00a0 His hair was dark but there were flecks of gray in his mustache.\u00a0 Elias moved to meet him at the pole.<\/p>\n

“Jaycn,” said the man, offering his hand.\u00a0 Elias took it, not surprised at all at the firm grip of this obvious veteran.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“I’m Elias,” he replied.\u00a0 “What did you mean just now?” he asked.<\/p>\n

Jaycn pointed at the Wall as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat.\u00a0 Eli stared.<\/p>\n

“The Wall,” Jaycn said.\u00a0 “You had that look on your face.\u00a0 I’ve seen it a hundred times.\u00a0 You were wondering how the damn thing ever got built.\u00a0 Men couldn’t manage it.”<\/p>\n

“So, they grew it?” Eli asked.<\/p>\n

“Not men,” Jaycn snorted.\u00a0 “The Engineers.”<\/p>\n

Eli frowned.\u00a0 “What do you mean?\u00a0 Who are the Engineers?”<\/p>\n

“The builders of… everything,” Jaycn said.\u00a0 “The Magistrate’s best kept secret.\u00a0 You’ll see them before long now that you’re here.\u00a0 Everyone does eventually.\u00a0 They can actually cause the stone to grow the way they want it to.\u00a0 That’s how the Wall came to be, it was grown, not built.”<\/p>\n

“I…” Eli didn’t really know what to say.\u00a0 “Wait, how come no one knows this?” he asked.<\/p>\n

“They know, they just don’t talk about it.\u00a0 Who would believe them?\u00a0 The Engineers aren’t seen in public much except here on the island, so if you haven’t been here, you probably haven’t ever seen them.”<\/p>\n

“And few of us return from the island,” Eli said.\u00a0 “But, you called them ‘the builders’, said they’d built everything.”<\/p>\n

“They did, once.\u00a0 All the great cities, including Valles.\u00a0 I don’t think they get off the island much anymore.\u00a0 Too much to do here.”<\/p>\n

Jaycn took a deep breath, then blew it out his mustache.\u00a0 “Anyway, you had that look about you.\u00a0 I’m gonna try and get some shut eye.\u00a0 Tomorrow’s ascent will be tough on you lot.”\u00a0 He turned to leave, but Eli touched his arm and he turned back.<\/p>\n

“How do we…?” he nodded towards the Wall.<\/p>\n

“Get up there?” Jaycn chuckled.\u00a0 “There’s a road.\u00a0 It’s narrow and it snakes back and forth as it climbs.\u00a0 It’s hard to see in the daytime, let alone at night, but it’s there.\u00a0 Trust me.”\u00a0 With that, he walked back over to the opposite barracks and disappeared inside.<\/p>\n

Eli spent another few minutes staring up at the Wall before moving back to his barracks.\u00a0 As he climbed up into his bunk, his mind kept going back to one thing that Jaycn had said; they grow it…<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2010, Patrick Hester.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved Chapter Twenty-One Eli stood in the chill night air staring up at the Wall.\u00a0 Sleep would not come this night, but he wasn’t alone.\u00a0 He’d stopped counting the other men from his squad who’d been tossing and turning in the barracks before he stepped outside.\u00a0 It seemed that […]<\/p>\n

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