Chapter 23 - Reversing Direction

Jude sat on the glass-covered street. He thought back to all that had passed in his most recent dream and vision. His friends were alive. They had crossed the river to the mainland recently. And now Survivor wanted him to return and seek them out.

But how was he supposed to do that? There was no way that he, after spending so long from them, would be able to return and find them. Yes, Survivor had left some strange clues as to what he should do, but they made no sense to Jude at the present moment.

He decided, however, that it would be best to turn around. While returning to the City, he might have a revelation as to the meaning of Survivor's words. Or luck might be on his side, and he might find them without having to decipher the meaning of Survivor's message.

Jude looked at where he now was, and thought about how he had got there. He thought that it would be relatively easy to find his way back, as all he had to do was travel in the direction in which the sun rises, and he should be able to find the island again. However, he was concerned about one aspect of his trip which would be all too likely to come back to haunt him.

What worried him was the threat of Lukäski and his band of kryons. Jude had never actually managed to pacify them nor destroy them, and if they captured him again, it would be almost certain doom. For as good of a marksman as he was, Jude knew that he would not be able to defeat such a large band of adversaries.

Nevertheless, he knew what it was that he had to do. He had to return and seek out his friends. His heart would not be able to rest if he left Tyra knowingly. He also wished to learn more of the events when the camp was destroyed, and what had happened to them after that horrible event.

Jude did not, however, have the energy to turn around at the moment. He was still tired, and his body still ached from his journey. An empty house lay by the wayside, and he made his way there to rest for a few hours.

While inside, he found a can of food which he ate as his day's meal. He opened up the Kryonomicon and looked at it.

All of the drawings appeared to be of kryon ships and weapons, and no such ship was drawn as the wasp-ship from his dream. And the presence of the wasp-ship within the children's book only made him afraid.

Jude thought more about the Kryonomicon and the aurora-script. Somehow, he would have to learn the language it was written in order to find the truth about the events from the war. He would have to learn the meaning of everything that had happened.

And another thought about the Kryonomicon troubled him. Who exactly had written it? It was likely a kryon, as it seemed that the language it was written in was the kryon tongue. However, he had no idea why a kryon would have written such a book and left it on Earth, where it was free to have been read by the human race.

Also, Survivor did know of the existence of the book. The phrase "Ukl shïkal ûkaj kif ukl Kryonomicon" mentioned it, and it was simply too much of a coincidence that Survivor had mentioned the Kryonomicon that he surely knew what it was. But how?
Jude did not know the answers, and no amount of wondering could possibly clear up this matter. So Jude gathered up his things, and reversed directions.