Recorded by Finnegan Lionhartt,
Of the events which took place after a very daring and risky rescue attempt, on the 18th day of Radia, year of Pinnikle: 1,229.

Send my love.

— The last words of a whimsical old man named John

All the while there was frenzy, time sat calmly beside Sophie, watching the scene unfold through the sparkling misty air. The mirror-man stood from his perch... And he spoke, "Not this way. This will not do anyone any good."

I heard his words all around the air, as if they came from the very air around me - a mellow voice that gave the essence of good will. As he spoke, Tryn glimmered. Under her twinkling cloak of light, she felt hope coming from Time himself. That was the reason for her glimmering.

You may notice the lights shine brightest in your life when all is dark and dreary. They may appear as people, or good glimmers of circumstance when all seems lost, and they shine ever-brightly in our most despairing of times. If you have ever lived through a moment that threatened to drag your life away, you understand.

Sophie heard the words all around her, too. I saw her turn to see the reflective man had been by her all the while. She was startled by his sight!

"It's you..." she said, "We tell stories about you in our village... you're—"

"—I am the witness to every moment, dull and extraordinary... But you can call me Jack,"said the Mirror man.

Sophie remembered the name, but was not quite sure from when she had remembered it. He said to Sophie: "It will be okay, Sophia Lionharrt," and snapped his fingers.

Everything around him froze, including us. The mirror man - whose name is Jack - later told me what happened next, after he had stopped time again.

"Always liked that effect..." He said to himself.

Jack walked nonchalantly from the cliff, where Sophie was. Passing his left arm through the stilled waterfall, he walked between Tryn - the little white star cloaked in her twinkling Light - and the stilled waterfall. He came to the jutting cliffside where I was, and came up behind Leon in silence. He passed the man I had rescued, who was frozen, peering over the cliff, reaching for me. Jack walked out onto the air over me, and saw my comforting, decided look. He saw the man's tears - they chased me. Jack descended, floating, until his head was about level with the tears.

"We won't be needing these," he said to himself, and moved them over with his pointer finger. They responded to his touch, and moved through the air, but did not fall apart. Jack descended around my back, and wrapped his silver arms around my chest.

Upon being touched by him, I was brought into the frozen moment. My arms, which had been lifted and still reaching toward Leon, suddenly dropped to my sides. I had stopped falling. My feet felt a strange rush of blood as my body was caught. I did not know what was happening, and thought perhaps I had died. I looked down to see silver reflective arms wrapped around me. They felt like skin, but perfectly reflected my confused glare, like a finely polished mirror.

With no explanation, Jack began to ascend, carrying me back toward safety. As I came over the stranger's frozen body, which was still reaching to where I had been, I broke the silence: "Am I... Going up to be with the stars?" I asked

As the mirror man carried me over and above the man's stilled body, he said, "Sorry friend... Not tonight..." His voice was loud, and came from all around.

"What the bright!" I yelled.

His powerful voice had made me jump in his arms! The words sounded like they came from the air itself. I suppose the voice of time is very loud when it wants to be.

"You're not dead," he said, a little softer, as if understanding the power of his voice. "I caught you, actually," he casually concluded.

He placed me gently on the ground. I turned to see his reflective body: a thing like a man that was silver, with a smooth egg shaped head and no features on his face. Not a mouth, nor eyes, nor ears, nor a nose. His face was just smooth. When I saw him, I fell back in shock. I scooted back, and dared to ask him a question.

"Mr... who are you?" I asked, wide eyed.

He ignored the question and cautioned me: "Careful now, or you'll find yourself over the edge again!"

His voice came from every direction, and though he did not have eyes, I could tell he was looking at me: It was as if his very countenance were staring at me. I was not afraid of him, but very confused about why his voice came from every which way. I peered into his featureless face, only seeing my own reflection in the curve of Time's smooth face.

"So, why did you save me?" I thought out loud, and looked to Sophie: Still frozen in the moment. "And why is nothing moving? Not the waterfall, nor the man I've snatched from death, who looks for me just ahead."

The silver man began to float backward over Leon. Still facing me, he said, "I know you, and I did not want you to die. It is that simple."

He stood there, as if planted on solid ground, but he was on air. He turned and in a very casual manner, he bid me farewell.

"I'll be leaving now, and everything will go back into motion. And you will be alive," He said, and waved to me as he began walking away from the waterfall.

He was walking clear over Plummet Valley. I couldn't just let him leave! I needed to know his name!

I scurried toward him and shouted, "Who are you!?"

With his back to me, he paused to respond, "I am... The lone witness of every good and bad thing, but you can call me Jack. I like that name."

After speaking, he kept walking off into the air, and lifted up a hand to wave. I was distracted just then, by the color red. Glancing down at my arms and hands, I was very noticeably covered in blood, and scratched. Even my feet bled under me. I had taken quite the tumble before all the strange things happened. Sophie entered my mind, and I looked across the falls to her. She looked a bit startled, and very sad. I remembered she had seen me fall. The moment was still paused, but not for long. As I looked at my sister, excited to tell her I had strangely lived, the water between us started to fall again. I looked back toward the silver man, who was still walking off through the sky to some place. I fixed my eyes on him, and whispered to myself: "You're... time?"

I was nearly certain of my conclusion. Jack vanished like a ghost taking care-free steps over thin air, and everything was in motion again, so I did not have a moment with which to become certain. Before me, the stranger searched for my body below the misty cliff-side.

"I'm back here," I said, attempting not to startle him. He slowly lifted his head, and turned. Seeing me, he dropped his jaw, and I would have done the same.

"How..." He whispered, then said more audibly: "I watched you fall..."

"Fin! That silver man saved you!" Sophie yelled with excitement.

I lifted a fatigued hand to wave back at her and said, "Yeah, I know... really something isn't it?"

I didn't really know what else to say. The stranger paced toward me, confused. I sat back against the cliff wall, and he joined me. Together, we looked out over the pinnacle of sights and shared sentiments.

"You didn't give up..." I said, "Thanks for that..."

I was silent for a moment, then spoke honestly about the events that had taken place: "I don't know how to explain what just happened..."

"You don't need to... Thank you for saving me," he replied, and then added, "I never want to see this view from upside down again..."

His statement made me laugh, and we both chuckled; both of us very happy to only be alive.

"Really something isn't it? All those stars over that valley?" I prodded, looking at the stars which lit up the sky so wonderfully. Strangely, the waterfall was not loud. It fell a very long way, and though it rushed with great power, it was not loud from the top, where the water spilled out. It was not quiet by any means, just not what I would have expected; which added to the surreality of the moment.

"I thought I was a goner... and then I thought YOU were a goner!" the stranger sighed.

For what seemed like a long while, the two of us took a moment to look at the beautiful sights, leaving Sophie to do the same on the other side of the falls. The danger had passed, and we each reflected in our own silence. Tryn was between us - the very star who long ago suggested that the Pinnikle ought to be named from that very place. It was, and is the best view of the star-scape in all of the anywheres.

For some unknown reason, the star preferred to stay hidden. I would suggest that she did not know how to act in the moment: She had almost lost her king, and me. Worst of all: when Tryn did not catch Sophie's lasso, my sister had begun doubting herself. Sophie had experienced Fear of failure for the very first time, and I think the star felt as if it were her fault. Her glow was very dim, like she was upset with herself, or sad. She slowly ascended while we all looked out over the vista. The star carried Sophie's lasso away. I supposed she would bring it back when she found the strength to apologize.

Subtle and quick, a frenzied night had almost come to an end, and had changed us forever. Death is a thing which can not to be escaped or avoided, but may always be fought against with all bravery. It is a thing I had saved a stranger from, and been saved from, in nearly the same moment.

I did not know what the man beside me thought about, so I asked him. Having no reason to withhold anything from me, he told me his story before sharing his name. I suppose who we are is not what people call us, but what we've done and been through. The man's perspective was very different from mine: While I was only happy to be alive, he could not stop thinking about a thing like a dark cloudy dragon, which had thrown him from his family, as it grew and exploded his house from the inside. Terrible things, dragons. As I felt the sweetness of breath, he sunk under the weight of grief and feelings of inferiority. He had been ripped from his helpless wife and daughter, and thrown very far away from his home - a thing I could not relate to.

He remembered witnessing devastation as that thing burst flames from its darkness, and emerged from the wreckage to take flight. That was the last thing Leon had seen before he passed out from being thrown. He had landed somewhere in End's Lake, which is vast. There, he awoke gasping for air, deep under water. He fought his way to the surface, and passed out again. He did not know how he drifted toward End's Spill so quickly, but I told him it was those little shadows. Anyways, I suppose you know the details already: From there, he floated unconsciously toward death. And death would have welcomed him if not for Sophie and I; and time, and a star, and perhaps other things even.

We sat side by side, worlds apart in our thinking. One of us (I) cherished the present moment, not lackadaisical, but full of whimsy, with glimmering eyes. The other (him) struggled, not knowing if he would like to have air in his lungs at all; weakened and battered by Fear. His family was in a place he could not follow, and he felt inferior.

If you have ever reflected upon your feelings or thoughts in either of those ways, then you know there are many things which may interrupt while you'd like to continue withdrawn in thought. Our thoughts were brought to an end with an impatient shout from a sleepy Sophie. She wanted to go to bed, and felt worn down by the many emotions of the night.

She stood to yell across the falls, "Guys! Can you make it up?"

I shouted back, "Yeah, I uh..."

I had not actually considered her question. We would have to climb to the top of the cliff - a short, wet climb. I saw a few snags that offered hand and foot holds, and yelled back to Sophie, "Yeah, we're ready! Looks like there is a clear way up!"

We stood slowly, already feeling the bruises begin to form. I suggested the stranger go up first: "Hey, why don't you climb up first. If you fall, I'll catch ya."

I gave him a wink, which communicated the irony: I could catch him, but it could throw me off the cliff again. He knew I was not going to have it another way though.

"Yeah... I believe it... hah," he said, then chuckled eloquently and richly.

He smiled, feeling safe, but still carried mixed feelings about being alive without his family. It seemed as though grief disrupted his physical balance, and I was happy to be spotting him. He climbed slowly and painfully, slipping every few steps, but reaching the top. I followed, exhausted.

Sophie had already started walking back from the cliffs, away from the waterfall. Her feet were badly scratched, and still bleeding. We followed from the other side of the wide river, moving slowly on our way back to Luca village.

About halfway, the river became mellow again. Deep and clear to the depths, the waters were decorated with large smooth stones, and great beasts swam in the clear depths, occasionally. Small fish glimmered in the river's current.