The Tower's Secret

5. The Sky

Grey followed Asis, his bare feet sinking lightly into cool earth as the mixture of grass and wheat tickled his toes. Glancing around, he spotted one or two characters afar, but they disappeared the moment he and Asis walked closer.

He exhaled.

Much to his comfort, the area was bathed in quietude due to its distance away from the Field of Objects. However, he could only enjoy the false pretense of silence, for the wind still carried distant echoes of battle in its breath, a constant whisper in his ear reminding him of the Tower's harsh truth.

"Grey."

A few seconds danced by before he reacted to his given name, looking up.  "Yes?"

"In a few hundred feet, we will wait at a spot. I call it a gravity spot; it's a patch of grass four feet in diameter and slightly elevated from the ground—very difficult to find if you are not looking for it."

"Gravity..."

"Yes. Let me explain," she gestured in the air, "The wind is nearing the end of its six hour phase, so it will be shifting soon. And during the change, the gravity of the certain spot will invert upwards. It lasts about five minutes, and while it happens, when you step onto that patch of grass, you will automatically be carried into the sky."

Asis continued, "And once we arrive up in the sky, we can travel along different wind paths to quickly move to wherever we want."

Grey was perplexed; he had never known different wind currents existed high in the air. For some reason, the cloudless, unchanging blue sky just appeared so...stagnant—not volatile as Asis seemed to indicate.

Are there many, um...gravity spots around in these fields?"

"No. They are scarce, hence why I've chosen to build my shelter so far away from the Field of Objects."

He nodded. He had always wondered about the obscure location of the shed, though he'd just assumed its purpose was to avoid people. Now, the reasoning was explicit.

Grey continued walking with Asis in silence, the constant rhythm and the lull of the earth set itself in unison with his beating heart. Almost relaxing.

Almost.

They arrived after a period of inestimable time, coming to a stop in the middle of the fields. It was the same open terrain which stretched on ever so mundanely, the wheat gently swaying in the breeze; it seemed...normal. However, remembering Asis's descriptions, Grey searched the ground and found the spot rather quickly. It was just what  Asis had depicted—a patch amidst the wheat, circular in shape, somewhat sectioned off by a slight elevation.

It seemed that they had arrived at just the right moment, for before he could do anything else, the wind suddenly changed direction, blowing into his face instead of on his side.

Right before Grey, the patch of tall wheat and grass straightened up from its swaying, as if something was sucking it upwards. Little pieces of dirt rose followed by some loose grass. He stared, mesmerized.

Asis spoke immediately, "Grab onto my arm and step in with me together."

Grey followed suit. And what happened next still overwhelmed him despite his mental preparation. He felt himself lifting up into the air, a cool yet soothing flow blowing his hair up, tickling his ears, carrying his body. Grey's body felt light, so light; there was no pressure on him; no weight him pulling him down. And as he rose higher and higher, the world below him shrunk, everything seemingly insignificant.

It was amazing. Beautiful. They were still rising. To what extent would they stop?

He held onto Asis's arm like she instructed, making sure to not let go. But for some reason, he was not scared. How could he possibly be scared if he felt as light as a feather?