Free Beyond the Moons by David Cook

a chest, the one Liam had found the day before, and was hammering at the lid with a big stone held in his two hands. The trooper was intent on his work and did not notice Teldin coming up behind him.
    “Trooper Gomja,” Teldin said softly but firmly, “what are you doing?”
    The startled giff dropped the rock at Teldin’s words. He scuttled around, his face dark purple with embarrassment. “I was just trying to open it, sir. There may be useful things inside.” From the way the giff sounded, Teldin was reminded of the time his father had caught him playing with his grandfather’s sword. Teldin could understand the giffs curiosity, but, all the same, he had to scowl disapprovingly. The giff looked contrite, his ears and jowls drooping.
    A sharp reply hung on Teldin’s tongue, but he held it back. The chest was a distraction and one they both obviously needed. “Go ahead then,” the human ordered, watching from over the giffs broad shoulder.
    After the battering Trooper Gomja had already given it, the chest was not difficult to open. One of the hinges was sprung and it only took a little prying with his dagger to work the other loose. Gomja pulled the entire lid off, then easily tossed it aside and carefully began removing the contents. Teldin watched interestedly over the giff’s shoulder. The chest held mostly books and papers. As the trooper pulled them out, Teldin made a stack of the thick, bound volumes. They looked like old ship’s logs, packed away for safekeeping. Pressed between them were folded sheets of heavy linen paper. Teldin opened one to find that it was a large sheet covered with symbols, diagrams, and notes in a strange language. The farmer held it up for Gomja to see.
    “Rudders – star charts, I think,” the giff answered after a brief look, “for navigating. The captain had many of these.”
    “These aren’t charts for any stars over Krynn. Where’s the Balance or Paladine?” Teldin commented as he studied the symbols, trying to match them to the positions of the constellations he knew.
    “It is probably for a different sphere, not yours.” Gomja looked at the chart that Teldin held in front of him.
    “Sphere?” Teldin asked, cocking his head slightly toward the giff.
    Gomja struggled to explain. Navigation and charts were clearly not his strong suits. “There are other worlds like this one, but different. These are spheres.”
    “You mean like Solinari or the other moons.” Teldin thought he understood.
    “No, sir,” Gomja corrected, unconsciously addressing Teldin as his superior. “The spheres hold moons, worlds, even stars.
    “So you come from another sphere?” Teldin asked the giff.
    “Yes, sir.”
    Comes from the Abyss, more likely, Teldin thought. Yet the gift’s explanation seemed to make sense. Certainly Teldin, in all his travels, had never seen or heard of anything that resembled a giff. “Grandfather always wondered if there was something out in the night sky, beyond the moons. Maybe he was right.” His grandfather, Halev, had shown Teldin there was more to the world than just the farm, and maybe there was more than even his grandfather knew. Teldin’s father never did understand that or any of Teldin’s other dreams. Amdar had no time for dreams. That was one of the reasons Teldin had run away to fight in the war.
    “Let’s finish this,” Teldin decided, breaking out of the coil of his memories.
    The giff returned his attention to emptying the chest. Out came more books and papers, then a layer of clothing. Teldin held up a shirt, clearly too small for his lanky frame. It was richly made with silken fabric and gold embroidery. Teldin carefully folded the shirt and set it aside.
    The last things in the chest were three bags and a long, leather-wrapped bundle. Two of the bags were rather large. Teldin opened the first sack, only to find it contained a dirty white powder. The second was equally disappointing, containing a coarse gray powder. The third