They climbed up a little higher until they had reached the point where they had done battle with the giant worm, and then resumed their trek in what they thought was the right direction, south.
‘That rumbling noise is getting louder.’ commented Moss, as they sped along the new network of branches, ‘and it seems as if the ground is getting closer.’
‘And the Greater Sun is getting brighter all the time.’ added Kel, shielding his eyes as bright flashes of sunlight pierced the normal gloom of the forest.
The deep rumbling sound increased as they went along, until the edge of the forest as they knew it, came into view.
Peering out from the dense green foliage, they were confronted by the sight of an enormous cliff face, towering well up above the top of the tallest trees, and extending off into the distance in both directions for as far as they could see. They had to shield their eyes from the blaze of light from the naked Greater Sun.
Cascading down with a thunderous roar from the lip of the high cliff, was a column of water, breaking up as it fell into clouds of mist and spray to eventually crash down into a pool below. Raging turbulent currents swirled the water into a maelstrom of white crested waves, racing each other around the pool to finally exit into a broad river which flowed away to the South.
‘I would never have believed this if I hadn’t seen it.’ exclaimed Kel, totally overwhelmed at the sight, ‘I had no idea so much water could exist in one place, and look at the size of that pool.’
Together they stood there, marvelling at the massive cliff and the waterfall, and wondering what other sights lay in store for them.
‘Let’s check the Direction Pointer and see if we are still going the right way.’ suggested Moss, and the little device was placed on a flat part of the branch. The needle pointed towards the cliff face, and the river which ran along beneath it.
‘Do we go down to the water level and follow it, or do you think we should go up to the top of the cliff, and go along the top edge?’ asked Moss.
‘I think the cliff would give us a good view of anything which we should be aware of below it, whereas if we go down we will only see what is in front of us.’ Kel replied.
They looked along the edge of the forest for the tallest tree which would take them as near to the cliff top as possible, and began the long climb up.
In a desperate effort to get above it’s rivals, one tree had produced a long slim branch which almost touched the cliff face near the top, and the pair headed for it.
‘It’s getting a bit thin up here,’ Moss called back to his companion as he crawled along the slender branch, ‘we had better do the last bit one at a time.’
As Moss neared the end of the slim branch, it bent under his weight, and touched the rock face.
‘Hold on tight, I’m going to climb onto the rock, and the branch will swing back.’
As Moss transferred his weight onto the cliff, the branch sprang up nearly catapulting Kel into the air, but he managed to hang on, and then began the long crawl towards the cliff and his friend.
‘Climbing up here isn’t going to be like climbing a tree,’ Moss said, ‘There are few handholds and its very slippery in places, also the light is hurting my eyes.’
But climb up they did, reaching the top in an exhausted state and very hot.
The view from the cliff top caused even more wonderment than the waterfall. It stretched into the far distance, a flat sand and pebble strewn plain with no trees or sign of other greenery. The river which fell in such splendour from the edge of the cliff, had cut a deep steep-sided gorge into the plain, and wound its way across the surface into the far distance like a wriggling snake, to disappear in the haze of the horizon.
‘The water seems to be flowing to the South, and that is the direction we need to follow, so if we go along the edge of the water we should be all right.’ Moss stated, and so it was.
They set off, following the edge of the gorge which became less deep as they went along.
‘If the water turns to our left, we’ll have to cross it somehow, and that could be a problem.’ Kel said, ‘I wish we had one of those bot or boot things Mec talked about from the time of the giants.’ Moss made no comment, as he was deep in thought about food supplies if they should not find another forest, and that didn’t look very likely.
They made camp for the night in a small depression at the edge of the gorge, which by now had shallowed somewhat, the water being only a short distance from them.
The stock of fruits and pods which they always kept topped up during their travels, would not last very long, as Moss commented, and another supply of food would have to be found, but what?
As the Greater Sun curved down to the horizon and the intensity of the light lessened, they were able to take in more of the finer details of their surroundings. The sand wasn’t like that found in the Water Plants, being brighter in its many colours and sharper in texture. Smooth pebbles and rougher stones were scattered about all over the surface, indicating that the surface of the plain had been modified by water at some time, and then some form of upheaval had distributed the sharper edged stones around.
After eating, the pair settled down for the night, Moss taking the first watch and seeing the Lesser Sun rise above the horizon in it’s silver white splendour.
The New Land
Nothing troubled them
