jerian proceeded to the ninth , this the last he could see on the rocky plain , the exterior wall seeming to flatten as he neared , to broaden , the suns grouped close , a swelling of hues at his feet as he moved towards the arch that had eluded him for so long , beyond it the future he sought , all possible futures from which crop he had to pluck a single day , a single blade of grass from a meadow as wide and full as the heavens , for in the future lay the ninth world , and it was power .