by Noah Layton
We jogged on towards the columns, halting ten yards from the beginning of the pit.
Moving closer to the edge was tempting, but from where we stood I could see the steepness of the pit’s drop.
There was no gradual descent. It was a cliff edge, and a single misstep near its precipice would send any man or woman tumbling into the darkness below, where the winter light didn’t even reach.
The pit must have been at least a hundred yards in diameter, perhaps greater.
‘That’s a long way down,’ I breathed.
‘It certainly is…’ Talia agreed, peaking forwards as far as she could to peer into the pit. ‘This doesn’t even look natural. It’s like something tunneled into the ground vertically.’
‘That’s where the name comes from,’ Lara answered, retrieving the ropes from her inventory. ‘Talaso was a mortal man who worshipped the old gods. He hoped one day to become a god himself, but for his arrogance the gods cast him down into the depths of the earth to pay for his corruption. He tried to claw his way out but failed, only his hand reaching the surface before he slipped away.’
‘Well let’s go climb atop his middle finger,’ I said, raising an eyebrow before pulling up my inventory.
While Cass and Talia were both light on their feet enough to climb with expert technique, it was Lara who knew how to set up the climbing equipment – including the mechanical contraption that we had purchased from Hawk.
In no time we had lifted it into place just a few yards from the cliff edge. From there Lara grabbed the lever at the back of the contraption and worked it again and again. I watched as the contraption secured itself to the ground, the bolts that it was burying eventually hitting rock and continuing with more and more pressure.
By the time she was finished jacking the lever, the only way that contraption would lift up was if the entire cliff edge snapped off.
‘Now for part two,’ she said, aiming the long, sharpened spear that sat atop the contraption towards the column. ‘Three, two, one…’
BANG.
The spear flew through the air like a bullet, trailing a thin, strong rope behind it.
It twanged into the stone side of the central column with incredible force, burying itself in the rock several yards.
From there its prongs dug into the rock, securing the rope firmly at both ends.
The four of us looked out over the huge chasm that lay between the cliff edge and the column we needed to reach.
A single rope granted us passage.
‘Remember that time in the Black Patch when I jumped across three crates to get on top of that merchant ship? I snapped a fingernail off, fought a group of sirens and almost plummeted to my death in a derelict old ship.’
‘Uh huh?’ Lara acknowledged.
‘Well I never thought I would say this, but I wish I was back there right now.’
Cass moved to my side, folding her arms and looking out at the wire ahead.
‘I can do this,’ she said confidently. ‘This is a simple high-wire walk.’
‘A simple high-wire walk?’ I repeated. ‘Do you know what an oxymoron is?’
‘No.’
‘It’s a phrase that contradicts itself. Like simple high-wire walk.’
‘You know that my balance is second to none, Jack.’
‘I would beg to differ,’ Talia cut in.
‘Uh oh,’ Lara laughed. ‘We’ve got a touch of competitiveness going on here.’
‘I’m going first,’ Cass argued.
‘I think it would be best for the natural climber between us to go first…’
‘Nature means nothing to me, catgirl.’
‘Woah, woah, woah,’ I cut in, holding them back from practically attacking each other. ‘Let’s approach this democratically. We’ll flip for it.’
I quickly produced a gold piece from my inventory, the coin landing dutifully in my hand.
‘Heads, Cass goes first, tails, Talia does.’
‘Just because I have a tail, husband?’ She said, her tail swinging into the air behind her as she frowned and put her hands on her hips. ‘A cheap shot…’
I flipped the coin into the air, caught it and slapped it onto the back of my hand.
‘Heads.’
‘Fine,’ Talia agreed, crossing her arms angrily.
‘Watch and learn, my dears,’ Cass grinned, sweeping her lengthening pixie hair into a small ponytail and crossing to the wire.
She bounced on her heel at the very edge of the cliff, just a few inches from the drop, then leaned forwards.
My heart felt like it was in my throat when she stepped out onto the rope.
But it didn’t need to be.
Cass quickly broke into a steady jog across the thin rope, landing each of her steps with immense accuracy and total confidence.
I had seen her pull off flawless backflips and crawl into small places before, but this was unbelievable.
‘Holy shit…’ I whispered to myself.
The drop below was nothing to her. One wrong move and she would fall to her death, but Cass didn’t pay it any mind.
I had to admit that I was impressed.
Cass raced to the end of the wire, slowing as she reached its end before leaping through the air and getting a firm hold on the rock face of the column.
‘Wooooo!!!’ She yelled out, her voice echoing across the chasm and into the surrounding forest. ‘This is amazing!’
I laughed, not just at the thankfulness I felt over her making it there alive, but at the simple expression of hysterical happiness.
Her brother’s death wasn’t going to keep her down – she truly believed in his sacrifice for our tribe.
And I intended to make it worthwhile.
I turned to Talia, expecting to see her seething with jealousy, but she wasn’t – instead she saw the possibility up ahead, and smiled with anticipation.
Before I could utter another word she suddenly raced forwards, her first foot hitting the rope.
From there she didn’t slow, exploding into a sprint that was even more effortless than Cass’s.
In no time she had reached the other side of the chasm, gaining a hold on the rock wall and beginning the perilous climb to the platform at the summit of the column, following close behind Cass.
‘We might as well just let them find the next clue, huh?’ Lara said to me. ‘Or are you still planning on risking life and limb?’
‘The plan never changed,’ I said. ‘I told you that I was a pilot back in my world, right?’
‘You flew those mechanical dragons, did you not? Like the one we found destroyed at the top of the waterfall?’
‘Yeah, but that’s not all I did – I did all kinds of physical tasks and exercises. It’s actually what helped me stay alive when I first arrived here.’
‘Don’t tell me that wire-walking was one of them.’
‘Not exactly,’ I winked at her. ‘You’ll keep an eye out down here?’
‘I’ll be on the watch, master.’ She bit her lip and winked straight back at me.
I crossed to the rope and got a firm hold on it.
Already I could see the terrifying abyss awaiting below.
But that wasn’t the direction I would be looking.
With my grip on the rope ironclad, I leaned forwards and turned myself over, hanging upside down from the rope, my legs overlapping it and my hands gripping it firmly.
From there I began my horizontal climb.
Once I found my rhythm, I didn’t stop, moving as quickly as I could across the chasm.
Grab, pull.
Grab, pull.
Grab, pull.
With each shake of the rope I held on even tighter, feeling its roughness burning lightly against my hands.
But there was no way I would let up my firm hold.
Above me, the sky hung indifferently.
If I slipped and fell into the bottomless pit the sky would hurtle away, and darkness would take hold.
But no w
ay was I going to let that happen.
In no time I reached the other side of the pit, yanking myself onto my front atop the rope and dragging myself along until I reached the rock face.
‘You thought about how you’re going to get down?’ Lara yelled across the huge gap. ‘Returning is so much worse than the trip there.’
‘Right now I just want to get up there in one piece!’ I called back.
‘We shall look after you, husband,’ Talia called down to me. ‘We have found a secure path. Just follow where we have moved.’
I looked up and found both Cass and my wife having climbed up more than twenty yards already.
She knew the best path up; the one that wouldn’t get us killed.
I continued my ascent, moving from rock to stable rock as the plateau of the column came closer and closer to being within my grasp.
I had nearly made it halfway to the top when I paused for a moment, mapping my next spot to move to.
I got a hold on a firm rock with my left hand, then reached up with my right to one just higher, and-
CRACK.
The rock I had moved my weight to suddenly dislodged, ripping from the wall completely.
‘Woah!’
I slipped.
‘JACK!!!’
‘I’m all right,’ I called back, hanging precipitously from my left hand alone as I clung to the fortunately stable rock, the ripped section still in my right hand.
I threw the clod of stone and dirt away, watching it drop into the pit as I hung there.
In that instant one small feature of it caught my eye.
Was that… A bone?
No, no way. Get a hold of yourself and find a way up.
Don’t look down wasn’t a cliché for a mess of reasons – not only because it would spin your head, but also because there was a legitimate fear many people possessed that they might actually jump.
Right now I had to look down in order to find my footing.
Fortunately for me, my stomach was weathered to the threat of the drop.
No sense in fearing death. It’ll get you nowhere.
I set my mind on the path up and continued the climb, trailing Talia and Cass as the plateau loomed ever closer.
Finally, after a perilous climb to say the least, I reached over the precipice and found my hand resting flat upon rough stone.
I pulled myself up and onto the plateau.
Cass and Talia were waiting nearby, checking their hands.
‘That was…’ Cass panted. ‘Incredible! I’ve never felt so alive!’
‘Not as incredible as this view,’ I remarked, looking out over the scene around us. From up here we could see the forest stretch out for miles all around, the snowy landscape looking like a picture painted against the sky.
It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.
‘We wish you could see this, Lara!’ Talia called down.
‘I’m fine down here!’ Lara yelled back. ‘Find the next clue and get yourselves back in one piece!’
I turned to the platform. It spanned a diameter of around twenty yards. Its surface was covered in a foot-deep layer of snow.
There were no landmarks here this time – no strange objects or out-of-place structures.
Whatever we were looking for had to be underneath the snow.
We moved to the center and swept the snow away in shoved heaps, revealing a stone circle about a yard in diameter.
Within the circle resided a collection of nine stone slabs, each inscribed with a disjointed image.
I pried one out of its place and examined it.
‘It’s a puzzle,’ I said. ‘Pretty straightforward. Nine pieces, they just need to be arranged.’
‘Into what?’ Talia asked over my shoulder.
I examined the images for a moment and realized what I was looking at.
‘Hang on.’
I pried each of the nine stone pieces from their place and quickly arranged them into the correct pattern.
The image of a dwarven skull stared back at me.
‘Cheerful,’ Cass commented as I placed each of the pieces back into their correct slot, maintaining the image.
‘Mmhmm,’ I replied, putting the last piece into place.
The central disc suddenly descended, leaving a hole into the darkness below.
Whirring began somewhere beneath our feet, and a few moments later the disc returned.
The pieces had gone, and instead I was presented with a silver box of the same shape and dimensions as the bronze one.
The platform rose a yard from the stone floor, presented before me practically on a platter.
I surveyed the pedestal and noticed an inscription carved into the stone, right before the box.
To arise, you must descend.
‘What does that mean?’ Talia asked curiously.
‘It’s the same message that was written on the clue from the iron skull,’ I replied. ‘Only the instructions have been reversed… To arise, you must descend.’
‘Is this another one of those oxymorons you were talking about?’ Cass asked. ‘The words contradict each other, don’t they?’
‘Kind of…’ I replied. ‘This is a paradox. You arise and descend at the same time.’
‘But you can do one after the other,’ Talia added. ‘We can arise after we descend. I just don’t know where we could possibly descend to.’
‘Does the dwarf that put this here expect us to jump off this column and hope that he will use some mechanical magic to safely catch us?’ Cass said. ‘I am loyal, Master Jack, but I am not stupid.’
‘A leap of faith,’ I chuckled with a shake of my head.
‘What?’
‘Nothing. I don’t think this is a leap of faith, but I don’t see any other sign of a further challenge.’
All three of us searched about ourselves for some sign of a challenge, but nothing presented itself.
This wasn’t like the iron skull challenge. The tomb had been out in the open there, I just hadn’t thought to pay attention to it.
This time there was nothing.
‘Maybe getting up here was the challenge,’ I said. ‘We almost died in the process.’
‘We, husband?’ Talia said with a raised eyebrow, furred ears twitching.
‘Okay, just my clumsy ass, but still. Look at this place. Does it get more remote than this? And we still have to make it back to safety without dying again.’
‘I’ll follow your lead,’ Cass nodded.
I looked around at the columns that surrounded us, leading onto the remarkable view that stretched out across the snowy forest in all directions.
‘Have it your way, blacksmith…’
I clasped the silver box in my hand and lifted it up.
The icy breeze whipped past my ears atop this plateau in the sky.
No threats confronted us.
‘I guess getting back is the challenge,’ I commented. ‘Let’s get out of here. I don’t even want to think about the abseiling we’re going to have to do to get back there.’
‘What’s abseiling?’ Talia asked.
‘Descending a rock face.’
‘So… Just climbing, but backwards? I’d still call that climbing.’
‘I need to side with your wife on this one, Jack,’ Cass agreed. ‘Climbing is climbing. It doesn’t matter which way you’re going. You have so many strange words that you u-’
Boom.
Cass was cut off.
All three of us drew to a halt.
‘What was that?’ Talia asked, a tone of genuine worry hanging on her every word.
The ground beneath us began to shake suddenly.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake…’ I groaned. ‘I hate this fucking dwarf…’
The ground suddenly jolted sharply. We all staggered – only Talia managed to remain on her feet – while Cass and I hit the ground hard.
The entire platform, encased within the frame of the rock, had dropped down two yards before
slowly descending for a third
The walls rose around us. It was too late for us to climb the edges, and even if we could reach them, it would be a challenge considering their smoothness.
‘What the hell’s happening?’ Cass panicked.
‘I don’t know, but keep your eyes open,’ I frantically replied. ‘This isn’t an inescapable trap. It can’t be. It has to be part of the challenge.’
From our lowered position, an unseen mechanical clunking began beneath us.
This time it wasn’t just a lone whirring, like the one that caused the door of the iron skull to close, but a whole symphony of cogs grinding and chugging against each other.
A final CLUNK rang beneath us.
Then the floor started to fall apart.
A series of panels suddenly revealed themselves, each sliver shaped like a tiny piece of a huge pie.
Half of the panels beneath us disappeared into the ground below.
‘Woah, what’s happening?!’ Cass shouted.
‘Watch your footing,’ I called back. ‘As long as we don’t fall through the gaps, we’ll be okay.’
‘We’re still descending,’ Talia said, balanced adeptly on her slice of the floor. ‘There has to be a bottom to this thing. As long as we don’t fall before we reach it, we should be fine.’
‘To arise, you must descend,’ I spoke again. ‘Holy shit, you’re right.’
‘Well, that’s not so bad,’ Cass replied. ‘All we’ve got to do is make sure we stay on these remaining sections and we’ll be f- Woah!’
Another series of floor-slices descended rapidly.
The one beneath my left foot gave.
I lost my balance, leaning in its direction as it dropped away.
No time to think.
I propelled myself from the remaining slice beneath my right foot with what little leverage I could gain and leaped towards the next along.
‘Oof!’
I struck it heavily, my forearms quickly spreading with a brutal ache.
I looked down the shaft, and in what little light remained saw the speed of the slice gaining as it vanished into the dark.
Cheating this game of wills was impossible; even if I my balls were composed of enough brass to try and ride it down to the bottom, the speed of the descent and the sudden stop would likely end me in a sharp and brutal fashion.
I would need to stay the course along with Cass and Talia.
‘Are you okay, Jack?’ Talia called to me. ‘That was close…’