“I know, it’s got me worried too,” admits James. “But whatever the reason, I’m just thankful they’re not trying to kill us right now.”
“True,” he agrees. “Can you find out where they are with that mirror thing you do?”
“Not now,” he explains. “I wouldn’t dare. If by chance they had lost us in the forest, then all I would be doing is sending a beacon telling them exactly where we are. Besides, in the trees it’s hard to locate anything the way I do it.”
“Alright,” he says, somewhat disappointed.
“Go back to sleep,” James tells him. “I’ll be getting you up soon enough.”
Jiron nods as he returns to his blanket on the ground.
The following morning she again sets a quick pace. “I’d like to reach the beginning of the stairs before nightfall,” she explains.
“Why?” James asks her.
“There’s a good spot there to make camp and that will ensure we’ll be well rested when we begin the climb tomorrow,” she tells him. “It’s a long ways up.”
Jiron grins when James gives out with a groan, pats him on the back and then hurries after Aleya as she disappears between the trees.
James follows his friend and they quickly catch up with her. The downward slope leading to the floor of the valley is gradual and he finds it quite easy to navigate. At one point during the morning, they begin coming across blocks of stone that look to have at one time been part of a structure.
“There are ruins throughout this valley,” she remarks after passing several clusters of them. “Sometime way in the past there used to be a city here.”
“Wonder what happened to it?” James asks.
“Who knows?” she replies.
The path they’ve been following slowly begins to resemble a road of sorts, though it’s completely overgrown with vegetation. If it wasn’t for the fact it runs straight and is relatively level, he wouldn’t even have know it existed.
As they continue progressing further into the valley, the ruins become more pronounced. Aside from the moss covered stones they at first had encountered, they now begin to come across pieces of statues and other sculptures whose features have been worn away by time.
One large statue of what might once have been a man had long ago fallen across the road. They have to scramble over it in order to continue.
“This road we’re on leads directly to the beginning of the stairs,” she tells them.
At one point they must’ve reached what used to be the city center of that long ago town. From out of the vegetation on the side of the road, broken walls can be seen. None are very high but the number of them suggests this had been a populated place at one time. In what could’ve been the courtyard of a building of importance, they find what has to be the remains of a once exquisitely crafted fountain. It doesn’t look so much as worn with time as being smashed to bits with hammers or something similar. James wonders what could’ve happened here. Within what would’ve been several city blocks of the courtyard, other evidence corroborates the theory that this area was destroyed intentionally rather than by time.
About midday, she calls for a lunch break near a fallen column.
Glad for the rest, James settles down on the column while they have a quick bite. The rest break is all too 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.”