“Let’s worry about that when we get to the top,” frowned Mistake. “If we don’t move now, we won’t have to worry about the answer.”
Mistake stepped out onto the ledge and started walking cautiously. Rejji followed her at a distance and Bakhai came last. Rejji looked down at the tiny tops of the trees below and started to waver. Bakhai caught up to him and put his hand on Rejji’s shoulder.
“Don’t look down,” warned Bakhai. “If you get dizzy, it will affect your balance. Watch Mistake and follow her.”
Mistake’s eyes were glued to the path in front of her feet. The morning sun was well above the horizon and shining into her face, but she squinted her eyes and searched for weak sections of the trail or loose debris that might cause problems. Several more screams were heard echoing off the walls, and the sounds of the pursuing army appeared to get louder, but she did not dare to turn around and look. The ledge before them looked as if it went straight to the sun itself and Mistake just kept on walking forward.
As the sun rose higher, Mistake began to see the trail far in the distance. The trail in the distance, however, did not appear to connect to the trail they were walking on. As she got closer she saw that the mountain curved inward and then back out again, like the curves of a snake as it slithers along the ground. A few more minutes of walking along the edge brought them to the bend in the path and the alcove formed by the mountain was bathed in gray shadows. She could easily see the sheer walls above and below the path they had to travel. She stepped into the shadows and marched forward.
The trio marched silently into the gloom for over an hour before they made the next bend and headed back towards the sunlight. As they looked over at the portion of the trail they already conquered, they could see the sunlight from the rising sun starting to penetrate the large alcove. They also saw the first Jiadin warriors as they turned the first bend into the alcove. They Jiadin shouted at the sight of their prey. The shouts echoed off the walls and reverberated loudly.
Mistake pressed onward as fast as she thought they could move safely. It was hard or her to keep her eyes upon the trail as the Jiadin line of soldiers poured into the alcove one by one. Some of the soldiers stopped and unstrapped their bows. A few arrows flew across the void between the trio and Jiadin soldiers, but none could reach across the distance of the alcove. Still, the closeness of the Jiadin was nerve-wracking. Mistake tried to listen to the fall of the arrows as they fell into the abyss, but either the shouts of the Jiadin were too loud, or the height of the drop was too great, because she never heard them land. Several screams of falling men were heard, but never the thump of the bodies landing.
“They are running along this ledge!” shouted Bakhai. “They do not care how many men they lose as long as they catch us. We can never hope to lose them. They will catch us.”
Mistake ignored the warning and continued at the fastest safe pace she could maintain. Occasionally, she looked across the void and saw the line of soldiers still entering the alcove. Suddenly, the rear of the line of Jiadin halted at the first bend and a tall lean man with long flowing black hair, glared across the alcove at them. Mistake caught his eyes across the distance for an instant and immediately broke contact and returned to watching the trail before her. Still the contact troubled her.
All of a sudden, the mountain trembled and Mistake halted and hugged the rock wall. More screams echoed through the alcove as some Jiadin fell to their deaths. Streams of pebbles cascaded down from above.
“What in the name of Fakara was that?” Rejji shouted.
“Whatever it was,” warned Bakhai, “the Jiadin are getting closer. We have less than an hour lead on them now. If they keep running, they will catch us sooner.”
“If they don’t fall,” answered Mistake as she let go of the wall and started moving forward again.
She glimpsed across the canyon and saw the dark Jiadin raising his hands. The mountain shuddered again and Mistake hugged the wall as the shower of pebbles rained down on them. Only one scream came from the Jiadin army this time. Mistake took the few moments she was hugging the wall to look past Bakhai at the head of the Jiadin army. The trembling of the mountain had not even stopped before those in the lead started running again. She turned and started walking. As she walked she kept her attention divided between the trail before her and the tall, dark Jiadin across the alcove. When she saw his arms rise, she shouted.
“Hug the wall!”
The trembling was much stronger this time and several screams came from the chasers. The rocks that fell were larger and more numerous also. Mistake looked at the trail before her and saw that they were almost at the last bend and would soon be out of the alcove. She turned and pushed forward, hoping to round the bend before the next tremor hit. The dark Jiadin had other ideas as his arms went skyward again. Mistake shouted a warning to her friends and hugged the wall again. The trembling this time lasted for several minutes and at least a dozen Jiadin fell to their deaths. The fall of debris was also worse and a fist sized rock hit Mistake’s shoulder. She grit her teeth as the pain jolted through her body. Worst of all, she felt the ledge under her feet move and looked down to see a crack that had not been there before.
“The tremors are getting worse,” Rejji said. “If they get any worse we will be tossed off this mountain.”
“They are getting worse because he is getting more desperate,” responded Mistake. “We only have a little ways to go and we are out of this alcove.”
“What do you mean?” quizzed Rejji. “Who is getting desperate?”
“The Jiadin’s wizard is getting desperate,” answered Mistake. “The tall one with the long flowing black hair.”
“You mean this is magic?” asked Rejji. “They are trying to kill us with magic?”
“Unless he just happens to raise his arms before each tremor,” replied Mistake. “Let’s get out of this alcove.”
Mistake rubbed her shoulder and started walking again. She found herself staring at the Jiadin mage, waiting for his arms to go up, and forced her eyes back to the path before her. She heard loud arguing across the void and ignored it as she saw the last bend ahead of her. The sunlight flooded her body as she made the turn to head eastward again. The Jiadin mage was now directly behind her and she could not afford to turn and watch for his arms rising, so she kept her eyes glued to the ledge in front of her. Her shoulder ached and she tried to force the pain from her mind. The ledge before the trio stretched out in front of them as far as they could see, always rising. Mistake began to wonder if it went on forever.
The next tremor came without warning and was the most severe of all. The shaking threw Mistake to the ground and she felt her legs starting to slide off the edge as the mountain continued to tremble. Her fingers scrambled for some crack or crevice to cling to, but she found none. Just as she felt she was about to be dragged over the edge, she felt a hand grasp her leg.
“Try to crawl a little forward and get your thighs back on the ledge,” called Rejji.
Mistake tried to crawl forward as the shower of rocks began cascading down. The pebbles bounced off her back, but luckily none of them were very large. The trembling continued and she felt it would go on forever. She ignored the shower of rocks and inched forward as Rejji pulled her legs onto the ledge.
“Thanks,” Mistake gasped as a huge rumble rent the air.
She lifted her head and saw a giant slab of the vertical rock wall separate from the mountain. Less than two hundred paces before them, the slab slid down as if in slow motion. Tons of rock slammed into the narrow ledge and a great cloud of dust rose into the air. The ledge the trio was on bounced and bucked and they clung nervously to each other. For several moments rock cascaded down the side of the mountain. Finally, the trembling stopped and the wind caught the cloud of dust and tossed it away.