by B J Hanlon
Edin tried to return it but couldn’t force himself to do so.
Grent walked back down the line checking the rope and making sure everything was secure. He took a few steps toward the edge and apparently found what he was looking for. He sat down and hoped off as if he were dismounting a horse.
Edin moved closer to the edge and saw a foot-wide patch of rock. His legs almost buckled at the drop. “There has to be another way,” Edin said.
“This is it,” Dephina said, she put a hand on his shoulder as Master Horston moved closer to the edge ready for his turn. “You’ll be fine.” She kissed him on the cheek and went up behind the old man. Somehow, Master Horston seemed calm as he took a step down with Dephina steadying him.
Edin heard him whispering something. Edin shook his head and looked back to the trees and the forest. That was a landscape he was used to.
He’d been on the roof of the manor before, helping fix the thatch, that wasn’t too bad. But he could probably stack a hundred manors on top of each other and still not reach this height.
Edin’s palms felt sweaty as he began wiping them on his trousers. Shortly he felt a slight tug on the rope. Dephina was looking at him, her head barely peaking above the edge of the cliff.
“Come on child,” she said with a grin. “Time to be brave.” She winked.
Edin wiped his hands again and moved toward the cliff. At the edge he could see Grent and Master Horston creeping along a narrow path, each with one hand skimming the brown rock.
They moved slowly but it seemed methodical. Horston’s way of doing almost everything. Between each companion was about twenty feet of rope.
Focusing on the ledge he sat down and slid forward until he was only a foot off the path. He swallowed, let his heart steady and closed his eyes. “Don’t look down.” Edin said. It took another tug for him to look. He focused on the path and dropped. He landed, one hand still on the cliff face. Another deep breath and he began to move.
He had to watch Dephina. Edin couldn’t look anywhere else. Down, up, out over the plains… every view was one he wished never to see. He had to focus. Edin kept one hand grasping the rope and the other dragging against the rocks clenching the few rounded nubs he found.
A gust of wind blew past him giving a slight nudge toward the wall.
Edin tried to focus on keeping himself rooted to the ground. If he couldn’t use Grent’s training here, what was the point?
Dephina was gracefully traversing the trail as if it were a stroll in the square and she was getting ready to sing a depressing song. After an hour of staring at her back, just to make sure he wouldn’t fall, he looked up. They were maybe a hundred yards below the lip.
A whipping wind came and tore at his clothes, pressing them against his body. Up here exposed and this high, even the slightest of winds were wicked.
A voice called on the wind. Edin glanced up and saw Dephina was staring down. In front of her was nothing but sheer rock.
Where were the men? Did they fall?
A thick sheet of cold air struck his body smacking him into the hard-stone wall. His eyes focused on the flat ground still a couple hundred yards below him. A dizziness came over him and his heart pounded. “Don’t look,” he whispered shutting his eyes and pressing his body as tight to the rock as he could while searching the stone for a hand hold.
“Relax, kid.” Grent’s voice called from somewhere below him. “It’s a three-foot drop, the path cuts back on itself.”
Slowly, he peeled his eyes apart and looked behind and below him where he thought the voice was coming.
Grent raised a hand from the path ten or so feet below, his dark hair and beard blowing in the strong wind. “Now keep moving, we don’t want to be out on the cliff during nightfall.”
A tug from the rope told him he was at the end of his slack. Edin kept his body facing the wall as he slid down the gentle decline of the trail. Edin reached a flat section of rock, a yard wide and two long, enough to rest though none of the others did. Glancing down at them companions, he saw the path was slightly wider as it turned back on itself.
He retrained his eyes to Dephina and forced himself to continue. The ledge wasn’t smooth, small stones and cracks in the rocks began to form, but nothing too huge. Edin was careful as he stepped across them making sure to keep one hand gripping any outcropping he could find.
They crawled along the wider wall for another hour. More cold gusts of air came from the northeast at near perfect intervals as if they were being timed. He concentrated, watching the path and Dephina when he heard a loud screech. A tearing sound like a sword scratching a rock wall… only much louder. It chilled him… it didn’t sound natural.
His eyes lifted as he searched for the sound, someone yelled and he felt a tug at his waist.
“Raptors, hold to the rocks!” Grent’s voice barely carried over the howling wind and screeching. Quickly he reached toward a handhold. Another scream, a woman.
“Dephina!” Grent yelled. Edin turned toward the group as she began slipping off the edge of the path.
Below, Master Horston dangled from the ropes around his waist and swayed. His eyes were wide and he howled in pain.
Edin watched as Dephina lost her grip and fell. Quickly, Edin spotted a thick outcropping and grabbed it. He tensed.
A painful yank came from his waist as the rope dug into his hips almost pulling him off the rock wall. Glancing down he saw that the drop was nearly straight down for at least a hundred yards before it started sloping again. He shot a look at Grent who was holding on just as tight, their eyes met. They had to hold on. His heart was thumping in his chest as he watched.
“They need to climb,” Grent yelled, “we’re their anchor.”
Both fallen companions were pressed against the wall holding onto whatever it was they could find. Another loud squawk came from above him.
He looked up and saw a huge black shape disappear over the top of the cliff. It was backlit from the sun, but he was sure he saw the largest bird he’d ever seen. He guessed the wingspan was twenty feet… hopefully he was wrong.
“Hurry,” Edin yelled straining to keep hold. He looked down to see Dephina climbing, but Horston frozen.
The old man’s head was twisting around like Grent on watch. Even from the distance he could see his face slack and almost as white as Edin’s ethereal bubble.
The pull at his waist went limp as Dephina reached a hand hold a foot below the path. Edin didn’t think. He rushed over to her pulling Dexal’s knife. He jabbed it into what looked like earth and not rock. It stuck.
Sliding to his stomach he reached out a hand.
“Grab on,” Edin yelled, a second later her hand gripped his wrist and he started to pull.
She wasn’t heavy, but with the addition of Master Horston’s weight it was like lifting two people with one hand.
The combined weight pulled Edin closer to the edge. Flipping his head around, he saw the metal knife start to bend. “Hold,” he coached the knife through gritted teeth. It kept bending. Then just as Dephina’s open hand reached the ledge, it snapped.
The weight pulled at him. Edin let go of the handle as he slid, instinctively reached out for anything to hold.
He clasped something and it dig into his palm. It stopped them and he felt Dephina pulling herself up. She used his body almost like a rope and laid on his back. Edin looked back. With her gone, he saw nothing but air. A long drop to instant death. Edin’s head began to feel dizzy and his stomach churned.
A moment later, his body was yanked back onto the path.
“We need to help Horston,” Dephina said through strained breath.
The rope was in the shape of a V with Horston at the center. Edin glanced over and saw Grent trying to hold on to the rock and rope.
“If we get closer, it’ll be easier to pull him up,” Edin said.
Dephina nodded and together they slowly made their way to the spot directly above the old man. He was still clinging to the ro
ck about five yards below them.
“Can you keep a solid grip old man?” Grent yelled.
Master Horston made a very slight nod.
“We’ll need to pull him up,” Grent said.
Edin and Dephina grabbed one end of the rope while Grent grabbed the other. There was nothing around to brace themselves with and Edin didn’t know how this was going to happen.
“Horston, you’ll need to help. Grab anything you can,” Dephina called.
Another squawk, louder this time came from above.
Edin felt a cold sweat as he tried to concentrate on this. One thing at a time.
“Hurry,” Master Horston yelled. Together, they pulled. The old man did little, it was more like lifting a human sized dead weight.
They worked feverishly, pulling before he reached the path. Edin’s hands were raw and the rope held bloody stains.
Edin’s arms and legs were shaking when they finally had a second to rest.
“Up, no time to stop,” Grent said. “There’s a cave,” Grent said pointing somewhere Edin couldn’t see, “we need to hurry.”
It was hard getting back to his feet. Edin was young and still had youthful energy, he didn’t know how Horston was able to stand, fear maybe, but a few moments later they were all moving faster down trail.
More otherworldly screeches above him. Somewhere just beneath that sound, he heard claps of stone on stone. The sound of rocks falling. Small crumbles of what seemed like sand began to fall over his head. Edin glanced up and saw a raptor fly at the cliff with its claws out.
The bird was above Grent. Its claws slammed into the face and scratched and then he heard a rumbling.
As the beast pulled back, a large chuck of stone fell. He barely had time to register it when he felt the tug. Edin lowered his gaze and saw Dephina, a fearful look in her face. They ran as it dropped. It grew closer and it was a few feet above his head when Edin dove forward to his stomach and felt the impact behind him. An explosive crack echoed. He looked back and saw a section missing.
“Run!” Dephina yelled. He pushed himself to his feet and ran after her. He couldn’t see Grent or Master Horston in front of Dephina.
Another crack, above and ahead of him. He watched as the raptor pulled away from the cliff, its claws gripping something. The claws opened and more stones fell, including one about the size of his head. He tried to guess the trajectory.
At this pace Dephina should make it, he wouldn’t. If he stopped it could catch the rope and pull them both down. He had to run or cut the rope. Edin yelled and picked up his pace. He ignored the cliff at his side and the small pebbles and stones raining around him.
Edin watched as the stone hurdled down toward them, it was getting close. The rumble of the stones was all he could hear. They were on a collision course, there was no way around it.
When he looked back, he saw Dephina disappeared. The stone looked to be a foot above his head when someone seized his arm and yanked him into the cliff.
It was dark and he stumbled blindly into a large body, brick like person. They both fell collapsing hard on solid stone.
Edin didn’t move as his lungs gasped for breath. His companions huffed and sighed, their feet made shuffling sounds on the ground but no one spoke. Edin could barely sit. His waist felt raw, his hands ached. Looking around, he saw they were in a small cave. Nothing but blackness behind him and a moldy smelling breeze washing over him. It took him a moment to figure out it seemed to be coming from the darkness. It felt deep, almost like an exhale.
“That was exciting,” Grent said. Dephina chuckled and Master Horston coughed with the hint of a whimper.
Dephina stood and moved to the precipice staring out at the world. Golden hues of the early evening reflected off the meadows beyond her.
“I don’t think I can go any further tonight,” Master Horston said as he slopped a thick slab of mucus colored goo into his hands and pulled down his robe to his waist. Lowering a torn and stained white tunic he began to rub the ointment on the deep red rope burn that surrounded his gangly body.
Edin looked away, his youthful curiosity about the old man’s body was gone like a flame in a tornado.
“I don’t like staying in these caves,” Grent said as he stood from beside Edin. “And there’s no wood for a fire.” Edin couldn’t see his face, but by the tone he was pensive.
“We don’t want a fire,” Dephina said, “not if we’re trying to sneak into Dunbilston.”
“I can’t go any further,” Edin said.
Master Horston grunted as he wiggled his robe back up over his shoulders and secured it, though not as snug as before. Horston pressed the jar of lodi past into Edin’s hand.
Edin began to apply it to his waist as he looked into the cave as it exhaled. “How deep do you think this goes?” Edin asked. Something about the place made the hairs on his neck stand on end. He wanted to delve in deeper, make sure they weren’t going to have a surprise but his brain seemed too tired. Edin tried to concentrate, picturing at least the small grape forming in his palm. It flashed and disappeared.
Edin looked back toward the darkness, if any of the raptors were inside, he wouldn’t be able to see the attack. Could the raptors see in the dark? Until the last twenty minutes or so, there hadn’t been any sign of them.
Another breeze came from inside the cave, it was longer and slower. The smells seemed deeper than the first. Slowly, they began to change, roasting meat, the forest after a rain, a cozy burning log. Edin’s tired mind became muddled and he thought he could hear a tune on the wind.
His body moaned as he forced himself to stand and face the blackness of the cave. The odors, the song, it was one his mother had sung to him. Edin’s eyes felt heavy and reached for his waterskin.
It was gone.
“Edin?” Grent called from over his shoulder, “come here.”
His ears heard the call but it didn’t register. Edin felt tired, sore, and thirsty. Somewhere in the darkness, he felt a warmth, a softness like drinking cider with his mother or seeing the twinkle in Kes’ eyes.
It was if somewhere in the depths of the cave, was home. His home, he could see it again.
“Stop him,” Master Horston snapped. His voice seemed somehow distant from Edin, cold and uncaring, the opposite of the feelings that called him.
A voice spoke his name. “Edin.” It was hushed, almost a whisper. “Help.” The words were drawn out as if they were lulling him to sleep somehow.
Something grabbed him, lurched him backwards further away from the softness and the warmth.
Edin struggled, he swung a fist at the hand and tried to dig his feet into the ground so he wouldn’t be moved. The heels of his boots scrapped against the rocky floor and then he was thrown to the ground, bouncing from the stone.
He looked up at Grent and flared his nostrils. A film of red covered his eyes. He couldn’t recognize the man before him. The one who tore him from the serenity. What right did he have to do that?
“Let go blotard?” Edin screamed, he tried scrambling to his feet, but Grent pushed him back to the ground, thumping his butt into the hard stone again. Slowly, his mind began to work again. The film disappeared and with it, the softness and longing.
“Blotard? You were the one walking into the dark cave. Didn’t you hear us calling you?” Grent said, he stared his deep brown eyes at Edin. “You almost disappeared, without any light. Not even your own mage thing… whatever you call it.” He waived his hand.
Edin was tired, his mind muddled but he remembered the feeling. It took him a moment. “You didn’t hear them calling… it was my mother and Kes. They’re in there,” Edin said. His thoughts seemed to twist again to that place and the desire inside there. “You can’t stop me from finding them, saving them.” Even as he said it he didn’t know why. He lowered his head to his hands and gritted his teeth. What was going on in his head, his body? What was this place?
“They’re not in there,” Master Horston said quietly, n
o quips or insults.
“I heard them, I felt them. It was as if they’re alive, calling me.” Tears were welling in him.
“Could it be an entrance to the Underworld?” Dephina said. “I’ve heard stories of them. One they say is in the Sand Sea, another near Calerrat.”
“Calerrat is the Underworld, nothing good comes from there,” Grent said.
“I came from there.” Dephina said.
Edin looked up as Master Horston shuffled closer to darkness. Standing next to Grent he shuttered. The bottom of his robe was frayed and dragged along behind like a fan.
“If they were calling you from there, then this could be an entrance to the Underworld. And if you go, you’re likely never to come back. Though in all of my studies, not once has there been any conformation of these entrances. It’s always old mysteries and riddles. Enough clues to make them seem real but it’s doubtful.” The old man paused and looked back at Edin. “As much as we’d like it to be true, it isn’t them.”
Edin stared at him through watery eyes. The old man had to be correct. Then he noticed Dephina off to the side seeming to chew on her lip.
“What the…” Grent yelled and leapt back them as another rush of air came on. It soothed Edin, washing over him like a pitcher of warm water running through his hair on bath day. There was something unknown in it.
Grent’s eyes opened for a second and he glanced back in. Edin saw the man’s jaw quiver.
“What is it?” Dephina said.
Grent stared back into the darkness then brought his gaze toward them. He looked as faint as Horston on top of the cliff. “There’s something in there… it has to be bad.” Grent swallowed, “We need to go now. Edin first.”
“What did you hear?” Edin asked. “What did you feel?”
Grent paused and looked at him. His mouth opened but he was interrupted by the squawking cry of the birds.
“I can’t,” Master Horston said. “And there are the raptors outside. They hunt in the dusk and at night. We won’t make it.”
Dephina nodded.