*
The rest of the day was spent climbing towards the peak, and whatever shelter they could find along the way. After almost two hours, Barsch was surprised to find that he was keeping up with the group. Whether his newfound energy and stamina came from the direness of the situation or from his body’s quick recovery, he was thankful as it prevented him from becoming a burden.
Kingston, in contrast, was struggling more and more with every step. His earlier vigour and quick pace had all but disappeared, and now, it was he who was asking to rest. To make things worse, they had reached the snowline, which meant that temperatures had once again plummeted. Soon, they were struggling to move through the deepening snow, and their pace slowed to a crawl. The cold seeped into their clothes, chilling the little that had managed to remain warm.
A sudden shower of light, freezing rain did nothing to alleviate the chill. It came without warning, pelting them with melted hail that drenched them within seconds. Barsch tried to think of a time when he had been in a more miserable situation, but his memory came up empty. Aside from the physical exhaustion, the heavy atmosphere gave each step extra weight, to match what they were feeling in their hearts. Indecision, regret, guilt, all welled up inside them, softly coaxing them to just stop walking and accept their fates.
In the midst of all of this, it was Alza’s sudden, unexplained disappearance that almost broke Barsch. He had been trying to fight the hopelessness while focusing on Kingston’s distant, faltering form, when her absence had come to him. She had already gained quite a lead, and with the encroaching cloud-wall and the accompanying fog, spotting her would have been a difficult challenge; but this reasoning was lost on Barsch. At that moment, under the influence of the biting cold and the despair laden situation, he could only conclude that she had abandoned them to die. After all, she was the most physically able of the group, and she might be able to reach safety if she left the sick old man and the slow boy behind.
Far above them, but not as far as it had been before, the storm cried out with a thunderous voice. The sound shook the mountain, and for an instant the darkness became light, illuminating the stark and cave-less terrain. Another bolt burst forth from the heavens, striking a boulder only a few hundred feet away. Without even waiting for the first to die away, the storm sent down another pronged spear of light, and another. Soon, the entire mountainside was a field of glowing phalanxes, filling the air with an unending roar. For an instant, Barsch wanted to join in, and add his voice to the din, becoming one with the storm that wanted to kill him.
However, his reasonable side told him to lower his profile, to avoid giving the lightning any help in finding him. He was about to mention this to Kingston when he saw that the old man was already kneeling, but in a way that somehow worried Barsch. Kingston’s left hand lay outstretched, as if it had been flung out to grab onto something, while his right was gripped firmly around his ankle.
“Kingston? What’s wrong?” Barsch screamed, struggling to be heard above the chaos.
When Kingston looked up, Barsch saw pain in the old man’s eyes, and he suddenly knew what the hermit would say.
“Sorry m’boy, the lightning took me by surprise… lost my footing and ended up twisting my bloody foot… sorry… I’m so sorry…”
This was it, the last crack in the dam wall. Barsch’s heart broke like a hammer hitting a mirror, buckling his knees and bringing fresh tears to his eyes. He was going to die, there and then, without ever accomplishing anything, without ever even coming close to his goal…
He wanted to scream, to wail in frustration, but his voice had left him, along with his strength. Should he lie down, in the comfortable snow, and let the cold take him? Or should he stand tall, and die in a blaze of light? Either way, the end result was the same.
Kneeling on a snow-swept mountainside, in the middle of a storm, Barsch closed his eyes and welcomed death…
“NO.”
The force of the thought shook Barsch from his pessimistic frame of mind. For a brief instant, hope fluttered in his heart…
“NOT HERE!”
The burgeoning hope began to grow, feeding on the mysterious voice, giving him back his strength. Through sheer willpower, he forced his legs to move, taking one step, and then another, towards his fallen friend.
“THROUGH FIRE,”
Kingston was closer now; a small figure in the darkness, but Barsch was going to bring him into the light.
“THROUGH ICE,”
Barsch knew that he would never forget the look on Kingston’s face that day. A mixture of amazement and confusion, but filled to the brim with pride nonetheless.
“THROUGH DEEPEST DESPAIR,”
Without even slowing, Barsch leant down and grabbed hold of the hermit’s wiry frame. He should have been surprised with how easily he lifted the injured hermit, but his mind was on other things.
“I will never lose my stride…” Barsch whispered, as he turned towards the peak and started walking. Around him, prongs of lightning were blackening the mountainside with their ferocity, but he ignored them, as one ignores a harmless animal. In his eyes, only one thing existed: the still distant peak. Logic, fear, hope, none of it mattered anymore. He just needed to keep walking, until fate bowed to his will.
“Barsch.”
The voice was soft, but somehow still perfectly clear and audible above the roar of the storm. Its speaker stood in Barsch’s way, which would have annoyed him, had it been anyone else.
“I thought that you abandoned us,” he said, his voice colder than the freezing rain.
“I did,” Alza replied, in a tone that should have frozen the water around her, “But only temporarily.”
Strangely, no lightning struck close to her, despite the maelstrom that had enveloped them. “I found a cave nearby. It should provide adequate shelter from the storm, but we will need to move quickly.”
Barsch knew what she was saying: two could reach the cave in time, three could not. It was a simple equation, but Barsch had never been particularly fond of math.
“I’m not leaving him,” he answered, still walking towards her.
“So be it.”
And that was that. Alza gave no further argument or derision as they slowly climbed, but nor did she offer aid in any way. An out of place lightning strike gave them the illumination they needed to locate the cave, and both wordlessly sped towards it. Behind them, the storm continued to grow in intensity, with hail, snow and lightning mixing together seamlessly to form an unending barrage of torment.
Only a few dozen feet from the cave entrance, the sky suddenly became quiet. The hail, the snow, the lightning, all just vanished, as if they had never been. Barsch was so shocked by the sudden turn of events, he allowed his pace to drop, which proved to be the smartest thing he had ever done, as moments later, the air turned white.
A massive bolt, like the fist of Zeus, slammed into the ground mere inches from Barsch’s feet. The shockwaves raced up his legs, blurring his vision and almost buckling his knees. If he had not slowed, he would have been incinerated, cremated by Mother Nature herself.
“MOVE BOY!” screamed Kingston, as the giant bolt faded and Barsch’s hearing returned. Without waiting for his brain to issue the command, his legs obeyed. He was carried towards the tiny hole in the earth by his treacherous limbs. When he arrived, he saw that the cave was barely deeper than a divot, with a narrow entrance and a shallow chamber within.
Still carrying Kingston, Barsch skidded to a stop, before half-diving, half-falling into the opening. Alza came through only moments later, with rather more grace and composure. Outside, another gigantic bolt had struck, seemingly in the same place as the last. As it faded, another one came down, this time undoubtedly finding the same mark. This phenomenon repeated itself five more times, until the gods, apparently satisfied, allowed the storm to return to its earlier fury.
They lay there, revelling in the warmth offered by their companions, and the safety given
by the cave, as exhaustion slowly sent them into the realm of dreams…
Awakening Page 39