The highest falls in the kingdom
Where Water Falls Into Sky
The Cloud Waterfall pours from the highest islands of the kingdom. Its water falls so far that it never lands. Somewhere on the way down, it turns to cloud, and the cloud drifts back up to become rain for the islands again.
On a fair day, it is the most beautiful place in the Cloud Kingdom. The spray throws rainbows in every direction, and the Lampwrights say that when the tempest calms, one rainbow becomes a bridge.
The launch
The Golden Ledge
At the top of the falls is a golden ledge where the water runs over the edge. This is where young dragons launch into the final stretch of the Trial. There is no sparkling gold here and no glowing rope. There is only the sky, and the dragons beside you.
Sometimes Tempest
No One Knows When the Storm Will Come
The Lampwrights have measured the Cloud Waterfall for as long as there have been pages in the Star Ledger, and still they cannot say when the tempest will come. A fair morning turns, the clouds close in, lightning splits the sky, and the falls roar.
That is why the final gate of the Trial is held here. Plans go wrong in a tempest. The dragons who learn from their mistakes, and fly together, find their way.
Gate VI of the Trial of Six Gates
The Final Gate
The last gate is everything at once: speed, patience, trust, truth, and navigation. Here the old rule is kept: no dragon passes the last gate alone.
From the Elders’ notes: They turn back for one another, something we forgot.