“Ha-ha,” he laughed. “I had completely forgotten that in the lower worlds you have only one name. It’s not like that here. The king has many names. His name depends on what the one who addresses him wants to say. Ra is the same as Vivasvan. But Vivasvan is a personal reference or remembrance of the king. The name Ra is used when you see the king in the distance or his palace.”
“Palace? Where is it?” David asked, looking around.
“There it is,” Van pointed to an approaching cloud of light on the horizon.
This cloud looked like the sun, but it was moving quickly right toward them. A huge fire column was erupting from this cloud onto the surface of the Star.
“What was that stream?” Dr Capri asked, squinting.
Van raised his small hands above his head and smiled.
“It is the shadow of our emperor.”
Everyone looked at each other with undisguised excitement.
“Are you leading us to him?” Jean-Pierre asked.
“To Him? No,” Van frowned. “We are going to Dandin’s.”
“Is he,” Jean-Pierre grimaced, “wak-ha-nilla too?”
Van looked at him with contempt:
“Valikhilya. No. He is an aide to the emperor.”
While they were talking, the flying castle approached. It could be seen hovering high above the surface. If one squinted, one could see its yellow color and a glow of such power that one’s eyes could not stand it for long. The castle was rushing right at them.
“How are we going to get up there? Will you lift us up? Or will someone throw down the ladder?” Jean-Pierre asked Van, looking at Debby and Yulia.
Both of them were walking with their eyes wide open in amazement. They pointed at the castle and stared at it in fascination. The palace itself glistened as the walls let in the strong light that was hidden inside. David and Dr Capri, too, opened their mouths and turned their heads, gazing at the clump of mountain above them. The noise grew, and the giant approached closer. Van raised his hands in the air and then lay down on the ground, bowing.
“What are you doing?” Jean-Pierre inquired.
Van rose from his bow, bright and happy. He began to glow a little.
“I am greeting my King.”
His voice became less squeaky and his gaze changed. He was smiling.
“How are we going to get there?” Jean-Pierre repeated the question. “Do we go up like you?”
Van began to rise slowly upward.