by Don P. Bick
Chapter 27
The temperature dropped drastically at the higher elevations compared to the plateau they had just finished traveling across. They were all wearing the warmest clothes they had brought with them. Most of them had the hoods up on their parkas and a knit cap on their head as well. The wind was relentless, the howling never-ending. Even as warm as they were dressed the wind knifed through their clothing, chilling them to the bone.
It had been several days since they climbed down from the rock pile, as they referred to it. The seven companions now stood on a ridge overlooking the plateau and far beyond. They could see the pile of rocks in the distance as they looked out over the land below. Camran stood transfixed by the violent nature of what he witnessed out in the sea. It was rightfully named the Sea of Turmoil, he thought, using the binoculars to get a better look at the violent motion of the water.
The seas were sending huge waves in all directions, crashing against each other at various angles. Where the turbulent water came together great geysers shot high into the air. Beyond the Sea of Turmoil Camran could see the Island Fracture. It was every bit as impressive as the first time he had seen it while standing high up on the mountain on the Isle of Flowers.
They rested on the ridge before continuing their trek into and across the pass. They tried to eat but soon tired of the constant wind and cold and decided to begin their hike into the mountains, where there was bound to be some shelter from the wind.
From the pile of rocks south of the plateau the pass looked easy to cross. As it turned out that was not the case. The way ahead was strewn with large boulders, splintered trees and dead branches, along with deep gullies caused by the spring snow melt off each year. It was slow going and the possibility of an accident was always before them. As a result, they took extra precaution in any area that was expressly dangerous.
Bran had another concern as well. Although they didn't think the Guardians knew where they were, this was an ideal place for an ambush. The pass was filled with hiding places, such as caves and crevices, and in many areas they were unable to see more than a few yards in front of them due to the boulders and debris blocking the passage. In some places the going was very narrow because they had to make their way along the bottom of deep crevices. There was no level or easy ground to walk on. Bran and Twil alternated taking turns scouting ahead for any sign of trouble or danger.
They were also concerned about the reality of wild animals lurking around the next bend, or crouched down behind a large boulder in front of them. And there was always the possibility of simply having an accident in the rough terrain. One frightening moment came when Gena nearly slipped off of a tree trunk they had been crossing, which had fallen across a wide deep crevice. A particularly strong gust of wind came up just as she reached the middle of the fallen log and she was barely able to maintain her balance. She kept herself from falling at the last possible moment. The fall would have meant certain death from the height she was suspended above the rocks below.
Their first night in the pass they found a cave that extended some fifteen yards or so back into the rock. It was located on a wide ledge, a dozen feet above the floor of the ravine they had been walking through. A rocky ramp sloped down from the ledge so the entrance had easy access from the floor of the gully.
The opening into the cave was only slightly higher than Bran but it was a dozen feet wide. It offered a perfect spot to start a fire and keep the whole cave safe and warm. There was plenty of dry wood nearby for them to gather. There had to have been some terrific lightening storms in these mountains from the way it looked. Camran noted trees several hundred feet high charred to some degree, while still alive, others looked like they had been victims of a bombing raid. The splintered and charred remains of some of these massive trees were testimony to the power of the lightening that had hit them. Branches and splintered pieces of the trees were scattered all over the floor of the pass.
A large pile of wood was collected for the night and soon they had a roaring fire going. The cave began to warm up in no time. Ve-Nah went about cleaning up the interior with Druc's help, while Bran and Gena began dinner. Uri stood watch at the cave entrance as Camran and Twil scouted the surrounding area.
When Camran and Twil returned the cave had been transformed into a cozy camp. The bed rolls were laid out on soft stretched leaves, hot tea had been made, and the cave had warmed up to a comfortable temperature. They were able to remove their heavy coats and spend the evening in comfort. After a dinner of vegetable stew and warm bread, they discussed the meaning of the part of the passage in the Oracle relating to the eagle and the talon. No one could come up with a logical explanation for that section. No one had seen a bird of any kind since beginning the journey. Gena, using the logic for which she and the Juptarians were famous, said they would probably recognize the eagle when they saw it, whatever and wherever it was located.
With seven of them they were able to rotate the watch in such a way that all members were able to get a full night of sleep, with just a minor interruption. The watches weren't long so they were also able to provide full attention during the time they were on duty, without fear of falling asleep.
The night passed uneventfully, even though just before daybreak Gena thought she heard a screeching sound in the distance. It was so faint she couldn't be sure. In any event it was so far away there was no concern attached to the matter. They were all aware there were animals in these mountains. They had been lucky so far and hadn't had any confrontations with any.
The next morning was colder than the day before, but the wind was barely blowing. It was the first time in days the wind was that calm, a welcome change to them all.
The cave was so comfortable they were all reluctant to leave after breakfast. Again they dressed warm, putting on their thick gloves as well. Bran put the fire out and they left the cave, continuing up the same ravine in which they had been traveling the evening before.
As cold as it was they should have suspected there was something wrong with the weather. They hadn't walked more than a hundred yards when the first snow flakes began to fall. Camran looked in wonder at the patterns. The flakes were soft and about two feet across. Two feet across, thought Camran in awe! They were truly beautiful and amazing.
It only took a few seconds for them to realize what would happen to them if the snow fell for any length of time, especially with the size of the flakes. They would all be buried. Quickly they returned to the cave they had used the previous night. Bran restarted the fire, which was still warm from when they left earlier. Fortunately, it was located under a small ledge protruding out from above the entrance to the cave so the fire was out of the weather. Just one of the large snowflakes landing on the flames could probably put out the fire by itself.
While Bran got the fire restarted, the remainder of the companions dropped their gear in the cave and scrambled to get as much wood as possible, before the snow got too deep. At first the snowflakes melted soon after they landed on the ground. That changed in a short time and the majority of flakes began to stick. In less than an hour there was nearly two feet of snow already on the ground. It wasn't even snowing that hard but the size of the flakes amounted to a lot of snow compared to the physical size of people.
They continued to gather wood until they could no longer easily negotiate the walk down the short ramp to the floor of the ravine. So much wood had been hauled into the cave they began to pile it outside the entrance, out on the ledge. With all of them working as hard and fast as they could the ledge also began to pile high in logs and branches. By the time they had to stop they were satisfied they had gathered a sufficient amount of wood to last several days if need be. As the snow began to pile up at the opening, the fire didn't need to be as large to keep the cave nice and warm.
The snow quickly created a wall around the cave entrance. They took turns shoving it off of the ledge and onto the ravine floor, until it began to snow so hard there was no way to keep up with it. In m
inutes three to four feet fell, rapidly piling up in the gully outside. But soon the heavy snowfall returned, once more, to a constant light snow.
The rest of the day it snowed off and on; mostly on. The seven took turns at snow detail, as they called it. Two of them would shove and push the snow out into the ravine until they got the wall of snow back down to around four or five feet high. When it built up again to a height of six or seven feet two others would work on it for awhile. During the times the snow came down the hardest they would all scramble to keep up with it as best as possible. They left the four foot high wall in place as insulation for the cave entrance. That way the fire could be kept low and enable them to conserve wood.
The excitement of experiencing the first snowfall of the year changed to an attitude of anxiety, as they realized they would not be able to leave the cave until the snow melted. If this was the beginning of the snow season, rather than a freak storm, they were stuck right where they were for the winter. At best they had only enough food for three to four weeks. If the snow lasted too long they would have no alternative but to try and retrace their steps back down to the plateau. That might still be possible, even with the deep snow, since they had only traveled most of one day inside the pass.
By the middle of the afternoon the snow in the ravine had reached the same height as the wall they had left on the ledge. That meant the snow had to be around sixteen feet deep just outside of the cave. And there was no sign of it letting up.
By evening it was all they could do to keep the snow from burying the cave entrance and their fire. They had created a slope out over the ravine floor by working the snow up and out over the ravine as far as they were able. Gradually they packed the snow down, compacting a large amount of the white stuff before it was able to cover the entrance to the cave.
Just as darkness began to take hold of the mountain pass the snow stopped. They had run out of alternatives on moving it anymore. It was beginning to slide down the slope they had created and into the cave. Bran worked feverishly to keep it from extinguishing his fire. When the flakes quit coming down they made one last, all out, effort to clear enough area of snow so that it wouldn't come cascading down into the cave during the night. The snow had reached an incredible height of twenty to twenty-five feet in a matter of hours!
The temperature dropped even more when the snow quit falling, however, the cave was cozy and warm and they had lots of firewood for the time being. They were in no immediate danger as long as it didn't start snowing again soon.
Their luck held during the night. It didn't snow anymore; in fact, the temperature began to warm. By morning the snow had settled to no more than fifteen feet. There was a high bank in front of the cave from all the packing and shoving of snow they had done the day before, but the level in the ravine itself had settled quite a bit.
Their mood brightened when they saw it had not snowed anymore during the night, especially since the temperature had gone up so much from the day before. The wind picked up again but this time it was welcome because it carried a warm air mass from the plateau below up through the pass. And if they were lucky that warm air would quickly begin to melt the snow and allow them to continue their journey through the mountains in search of the eagle’s talon.