short before she once more gets them moving. A little after noon they reach the bottom of the valley.
In the distance ahead of them, the stairs begin to be visible. At first a jagged line going up the side of the ridge, then as they move closer, they are better able to make out the individual steps.
It isn’t long before the road begins going up the other side of the valley. “It isn’t that far now,” she tells them. “About another couple of hours and then we’ll be able to rest before the big climb tomorrow.”
“Good,” huffs James. Going uphill is decidedly less easy than going down. He maintains the pace she sets and by the time they get to the campsite, his legs are feeling quite numb and it’s all he can do just to keep putting one in front of the other.
Jiron on the other hand seems completely unaffected by the rigorous pace set by Aleya. When they come to a small ring of stones which has served as a fire pit in the recent past, Jiron sets to collecting wood for the fire while James collapses on the ground. Aleya again goes in search of dinner.
After collecting enough wood to last through the night, Jiron builds a fire in the fire ring. They have a good sized blaze going before long and they sit and wait for the return of Aleya. From where their camp lies, they’re able to see the beginnings of the steps leading up to the top of the ridge. It must have taken some doing to carve them out of the side of the mountain like that. A level space had been cleared before the steps, seven tall spires of stone stand as sentinels.
The light slowly begins fading as the sun falls further behind the ridge to the west. After a half hour they begin to worry about her. “She should’ve been back by now,” Jiron says, concern in his voice.
“Yeah, she’s never taken this long,” agrees James.
Standing up, Jiron calls out. “Aleya!” When no answer is forthcoming, he says, “I’m going to go search for her.”
“I’ll go with you,” James says as he gets to his feet.
With Jiron in the lead, they head out of the camp, following the same general direction that Aleya had taken. Her footprints are readily visible in the soft dirt and they’re able to follow them quickly.
“ Help!” they hear her cry from up ahead.
“That’s her!” exclaims Jiron. Knife in hand, he rushes forward with careless abandon, James right behind.
“Aleya!” he cries out as he races through the brush ahead of them.
A large log has fallen across the game trail that she had been following and without even slowing, Jiron vaults over it.
Aaaiiiiiiiieeeee!
James comes to a quick halt when he hears Jiron cry out. Coming to the log, he picks up a rock from off the ground and cautiously peers over the top. A steep ravine falls away on the other side and he sees Jiron picking himself up off the ground from where he landed after sailing over the log. Several new scrapes and cuts are testament to the haphazard way in which he landed on the far side.
Just beneath the log, he sees Aleya lying upside down on the edge of the ravine, her bow lying below her down on the bottom. From the angle she’s laying, it looks like her foot has gotten wedged in between some roots and hanging upside down like that, has been unable to free it.
“What happened?” James asks as he cautiously makes his way over the log.
Looking rather embarrassed, she says, “I was climbing over the log when my foot slipped in between these roots and I lost my balance and fell.”
Jiron comes up from the bottom and supports her shoulders while James works her foot out from between the roots. As her foot slips free, Jiron helps her to stand.
Testing it with her weight, she says, “I don’t think it’s broken.” They help her back up to the top after which, Jiron returns to the bottom of the raving to retrieve her bow. When he returns it to her, she gives him a smile and says, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he replies.
“You didn’t hurt yourself when you flew over the top did you?” she asks.
“No,” he says.
“We thought you were in trouble,” explains James.
“I appreciate you coming to find me,” she says.
The light is starting to fade so she returns with them to the camp where they have another meal of cold, stale rations. Still, it’s better than nothing.
Chapter Twenty One
Standing there the following morning at the beginning of the stairs with the seven stone spires rising around him, James looks with trepidation at the climb he’s about to embark upon.
Jiron comes up behind him and lays his hand on his shoulder. “It’s not going to be so bad,” he says.
“I hope not,” he replies.
Stepping upon the first step, Aleya glances to them and says, “There are several areas along the way where we can rest if you need to, but we really should try to make it all the way to the top by nightfall.”
Sighing, he says, “Lead on.” He approaches the stairs with Jiron beside him and begins the climb. Aleya takes the steps at an even and steady pace.
After only a hundred feet, he begins to feel the strain of the climb as his legs start protesting. And when they come to the first resting spot the builders had constructed for the weary traveler, he collapses on the ground. His legs are already tired and beginning to burn from the exertion.
A broken pile of stone shows where a bench had once rested long ago. James doesn’t care, he just lies down on the flat ground to the side of the stairs and hopes his legs calm down before they resume the climb.
Jiron goes to the edge of the overlook and gazes out across the valley. “We’ve already come a ways,” he says to James.
Coming to stand beside him, Aleya takes in the panorama of the valley laid out before them. “Beautiful,” she says. “If I’d known it was like this, I would’ve done this long ago.”
After he’s rested a moment and his legs have stopped their aching, James gets to his feet and comes over to stand next to them. Indeed, the view is breathtaking. Looking hard, he can make out the ruins nestled in amongst the trees. If he didn’t know they were there, he probably wouldn’t have noticed them.
“James!” Jiron exclaims as he points to a clearing near the middle of the valley.
Squinting against the morning light, he’s able to make out shapes down there. Hundreds of them moving in their direction. “I guess they didn’t give up.”
“No,” comments Aleya, “It doesn’t look like it.” Grabbing her bow from where it sits propped up against the broken pieces of the bench, she says, “We better move.”
Resuming the climb with renewed determination, James doesn’t get very far before he begins feeling the tingle of someone doing magic. It’s not very strong but it’s there. A shadow blots out the sun for just a moment and he looks up to find clouds rolling in at an unnatural speed.
“What’s going on James?” Jiron asks from where he’s paused several steps ahead of him, looking at the sky.
Turning his attention to Jiron, he says, “He’s calling clouds to the area.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Don’t know,” he replies. “But I doubt if it’s for our benefit. We better get up and off these stairs fast.”
Aleya is further up and has paused when she realizes they’ve stopped. “Come on!” she hollers back down to them. “We’re halfway there.”
With a groan, James gets his fatigued legs moving.
Sitting at the top of the ridge is what looks to be a broken watchtower, probably at one time having stood guard over this way into the valley. By the time they’ve reached the next rest area, soldiers can be seen at the bottom of the stairs where they’re beginning the ascent. Above them, the ruins of the watchtower stand silent vigil over the events below.
The side of the ridge begins to rise more severely as the stairs continue to wind their way along its face. One
