The trio remained still for a moment after the shocks subsided and eventually rose to their feet. Mistake gasped as she gazed upon the trail ahead. A large portion of the ledge had been sheered off the face of the mountain and descended into the abyss with the slab.
“That ends this journey,” she sobbed. “I am so sorry for making you bring me here. We should never have come.”
Chapter 21
Sage of the Mountain
Rejji helped Bakhai pass him on the trail and then pulled his sword.
“Go to the break in the trail,” ordered Rejji. “See if there are enough rocks there to throw at the Jiadin as they come around the bend. If we can force the Jiadin to retreat, maybe we can get out of this.”
“They aren’t going to leave,” sobbed Mistake. “That wizard does not even care how many of his own men die, as long we die.”
“I will go,” volunteered Bakhai as he stepped carefully past Mistake. “I cannot think of any better plan.”
Rejji stood nervously as he waited for the first Jiadin to round the bend.
“They won’t be here for a while,” offered Mistake. “Rest while you can. Bakhai said they were almost an hour behind us.”
Rejji nodded and sheathed his sword. “Maybe there is another break in the ledge behind us,” he offered. “Maybe they can’t even get to us.”
“Come here!” shouted Bakhai. “I found something.”
Mistake and Rejji made their way to where Bakhai stood on the edge of the broken ledge. The sheer rock wall of the mountain had been torn away revealing a small cave where the ledge used to be.
“Maybe we can hide in there and they will think we fell with the ledge,” offered Bakhai. “After they leave, we can make our way back to the bottom of the mountain.”
“That is quite a leap to get in there,” frowned Rejji, “and an awful long fall if we miss.”
“What other choice do we have?” retorted Mistake. “I don’t think throwing rocks at the Jiadin is going to prolong our lives much. Even if they suspect we are in there, they will have to make the leap to find out. They can only do that one at a time.”
“All right,” agreed Rejji. “We will need a running start to make it though. Let’s back up and give Bakhai some room.”
The trio moved back several dozen paces. Bakhai cleared loose rubble from the trail on his way back.
“Go just fast enough to help you jump,” warned Mistake. “Too fast and you will fall before you get there. Remember the screams of the Jiadin we heard.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” frowned Bakhai.
The running start required for the leap was not the only problem. To enter the hole in the wall required a leap to the left of the path and not straight-ahead. Without warning, Bakhai started running. He misjudged the end of the path and jumped slightly before he should have, still the upper half of his body entered the hole and only his legs dangled out. He swiftly pulled his legs in and rolled out of the way so the next person did not land on top of him.
Mistake went next and Rejji was amazed at her grace as she dove into the hole without even touching the sides. Rejji gave Mistake a few seconds to clear out of the way and started running. He ran right to the edge and pushed off for his dive, but the edge of the broken path crumbled under his feet. He felt himself falling as he stretched out his arms towards the hole. He saw the hole rising as his body fell lower and thought he would miss it entirely. His arms entered the hole and he tried to grab onto something as his body slammed against the rock wall. He could find no purchase inside the hole and the weight of his body started to drag his arms back out. He managed to get his left hand on the lip of the hole while the glove on his right hand snagged in a crevice. Mistake and Bakhai rushed to the entrance and each grabbed one of his arms.
Mistake leaned over the edge and looked down. There was nothing below Rejji for hundreds of feet and what she did see was a huge pile of broken rocks that used to part of the mountain.
“There is nothing that Rejji can put his feet on,” she told Bakhai. “We have to pull him in without his help.”
“All right,” nodded Bakhai. “When we start to pull, Rejji, you will have to let go.”
Rejji barely nodded and his friends started to pull him up.
“I can’t pull him up,” yelled Mistake. “His glove is stuck. Grab the lip again, Rejji.”
“He can’t grab the lip again. Cut it quickly,” Bakhai shouted. “I will try to hold him by this arm. Cut the glove and then grab whatever part of him you can.”
The knife appeared in Mistake’s hand almost before Bakhai finished speaking. She quickly shoved the knife into a finger hole and slit the fabric along his knuckles. Then she ran the knife along the top of Rejji’s hand and dropped it as the cloth separated so she could grab his hand before he dropped away.
“I have his hand,” she yelled. “Pull!”
Bakhai and Mistake pulled in unison as they backed into the cave and soon had Rejji into the hole. Nobody moved for several minutes and the only sound was the heavy breathing of the trio. Finally, Mistake sat up and looked at Rejji’s hand.
“It is not bad,” she said. “I was afraid I would slice deep into your hand, but it is only a couple of scratches.
“I thought I was done for,” groaned Rejji. “My body aches all over. Sorry about your knife, Mistake.”
“I have others,” she responded. “Your glove will give us away though. I don’t think they will miss seeing it there.”
“They also won’t be able to get in here now that Rejji crumbled more of the path,” stated Bakhai.
“We won’t be able to get back out either,” added Rejji.
The trio sat in silence for a while as each of them reflected on their predicament until they heard the sound of another Jiadin scream.
“We had better get ready for them,” Rejji sighed. “They may use that wizard to find a way in here. Search the cave for anything we can use to throw at them.”
“Wish we had a torch,” muttered Bakhai as he moved deeper into the dark portion of the cave.
“I don’t feel anything larger than a pebble in here,” complained Mistake. “We have a sword and four knives left. That is about it.”
“Hey,” called Bakhai from the darkness. “I found a tunnel back here and I can feel air flowing. It might be a way out.”
Rejji and Mistake hurried towards the sound of Bakhai’s voice. Mistake kept going past Bakhai and started crawling down the tunnel. Rejji and Bakhai followed. The tunnel was barely large enough to crawl through, but there was an airflow, which lifted their spirits. After a while the tunnel grew larger and they were able to stoop at first and then stand.
Eventually, the tunnel widened and they saw the soft glow of light piercing the darkness ahead. The air also picked up a foul scent, but nobody seemed to mind. The tunnel made a gradual bend and as it did, Mistake halted and backed up.
“What is it?” Rejji asked.
Mistake held a finger to her lips and pointed. Rejji and Bakhai peeked around the bend and saw a colossal beast in a large chamber. They stood frozen as Mistake inched forward towards the large chamber. After a few moments, she returned and pushed them back around the bend.
“There is a huge opening in the ceiling,” she whispered, “and another tunnel across the chamber. That is all I could see. The opening in the ceiling goes to the surface because that is where the light is coming from, but there is no way we will be able to reach it. I am going to try to sneak across the chamber and check out the other tunnel.”
“Not without us,” interjected Rejji. “This is no time to get separated.”
“Then we should go one at a time,” retorted Mistake. “If that thing wakes up, it looks like it could swallow us whole.”
“What is it?” repeated Rejji.
“It looks like a dragon,” Mistake whispered. “I thought they were mythical and used to excite children in the villages, but I can’t imagine what else it could be.”