Chapter 53 - Sight on the Horizon

They woke up in the early morning. Jude did not tell of his success to anyone but his friends, as it really was not an important accomplishment. However, they did not realize that it was a foretelling of things to come.

They walked for a few hours that day. The one who had been sick had gotten better, so they could walk at full pace. The people were beginning to get restless waiting to find the tower, so Jude focused his mind.

It flipped around several times, seemingly amplified by the increase in thought that solving the cube had done. He added increased power to his eyesight, and looked out over the horizon.

One thing stood out from the rubble. It was still very far off, but Jude could see a building rising off into the distance. Putting all of his effort into looking at the building, Jude saw that it was a metal cylinder, rising high into the sky. Three hyperbolic supports reached down from it to the ground. It was the tower, their destination that had so long vanished from them.

Jude cried out, “We are nearly there! The tower approaches! I give us two weeks to arrive at the tower!”

The people began cheering. They finally knew that they were not chasing after an impossible dream – the tower really did exist.

They slept early again that night, in celebration of the fact that they were so close to their goal. Jude was among the first to fall asleep.



Colors swirled around him, and Jude already knew what was happening. This was not a dream but a foretelling of things to come. Survivor walked out from the mist.

“Jude, my boy, you have done well. Indeed, the tower now rises up before you, but you are further than you think.”

“What do you mean, Survivor? What obstacles still lie in our path?”

“The past will come back to haunt you Jude. Lukäski is not alone, the destroyers of my own life may be the ones who are finally your undoing.

“And even if you reach the tower, there is still a long journey ahead. The tower is not the end but a milestone, an encouragement as you walk forward to save humanity – and yourselves.”

Jude looked into Survivor’s eyes. In them he saw a fire that he had never seen before, a fire that burned with resolution and hope, not with anger as so often fires burned with. This fire was for the hope of humanity.

“I see you have found the Kryonomicon, the book that for so long eluded me. Read it well, Jude, the answers lie in it. Ukl shïkal ukâj kif ukl Kryonomicon. Ukl mort tÿr undâr.”

Survivor vanished, leaving Jude to contemplate the meaning of the message.



Jude awoke in the early morning, long before anyone else, leaving him to think about his vision in the cold.

The tower was not the final destination, but a milestone, Survivor had said. What could lie beyond the tower, and what was actually in the tower? Only time – and exploration – could tell for certain.

One more thing stuck in Jude's mind. He had closed his speech with the same words that Jude had closed the funeral with. Ukl mort tÿr undâr. The dead shall walk. What was this supposed to mean?

He did not know, and he could only journey farther with the Council before discovering the meaning behind the words.