Page 26 of The Scattered Bones

“Then you will.”

* * *

I climbuntil my limbs are numb, and then I climb more. My fingers bleed. My biceps shake. My feet blister, yet I’m barely a fraction of the way up this cliff. I pause often to breathe and listen, hoping his pull will guide me to his bones. The pack’s weight cuts mercilessly into my shoulders, my skin red from the straps, but every time I’m tempted to lighten it by drinking, by slipping the dried fruit and nuts into my mouth, I look at how distant the heavens are. The Verdens Kant is endless. Perhaps this is the edge of the world because the cliffs extend eternally into the sky. The mountains have no peeks, therefore the fools who dig their fingertips into the crevices die of old age, unable to reach a top that isn’t there.

So far, the weather has blessed me. The sun shines, but not too hot. The wind blows, but not too harsh. There’s no rain, no threat of storms on the horizon, but night’s fast approaching. I don’t understand how the sun is already falling from the sky. This morning feels like only minutes ago. My journey into the heavens just began, so how can darkness be upon me? The day slipped carelessly by, the stress on my muscles causing me to lose time, and that worries me. Perhaps that’s why no one survives the Verdens Kant. Perhaps the struggle passes so swiftly, the climbers find themselves trapped on the cliffs for cycles on end. We’re destined to experience days as moments, cycles as hours. How old will I be when my feet finally kiss the earth again? Will I be grey and wrinkled? Will I be nothing but falling bones for the wind to scatter?

“Night is fast approaching.” The Stranger’s voice slips inside my mind, and I grunt as a sharp rock slices my already bleeding thumb.

“I have eyes.”

“Then use them to find your rest. You cannot climb in the dark.”

“There’s nothing here but edges and spikes,” I growl. “Unless you wish me to skewer my flesh to sleep, then I must keep climbing.”

“You don’t have time for arguing, my child,” he reprimands. “Cynicism does not become you in this predicament.”

“Then find me somewhere safe.”

“I cannot help you. You know that.”

“Then don’t tell me of the danger I’m in. I’m well aware.” He goes silent, and I instantly regret my callous words. “I’m sorry. I’m afraid. I’m always afraid.”

“I know, my child.” His voice sounds broken. “Do you think I enjoy watching you suffer? I’ve grown attached to you in these dark days. You’re perhaps the only thing my calloused heart can care about.”

“Then why can’t you help me?”

“Because…”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Because that’s the way it must be. You’ll understand in the end.”

“If I survive that long.”

“Sellah.” It’s the first time The Stranger has called me by my name, and instead of echoing in my mind, his voice sounds in my right ear. The surprise jerks my head to where I half expect him to be clinging to the cliff, but the rocks are empty.

I tilt my forehead, wiping the sweat on my sleeve when I see it. A ledge. It juts out from the mountain, its surface large enough to hold my sleeping form. It’s a decent distance from where I hang, and it’ll be a race to reach it before the sunset bathes the realm in darkness, but it’s there all the same. To my right. Where The Stranger’s voice sounded loud and clear.

I smile at his unhelping aid and angle for it. I move as fast as my bleeding fingers allow, but I can’t compete with the sun. She falls and falls and falls, and my limbs shake. I have to reach the ledge before the light fails me. The crevices are too small to find without her guidance.

“Tell me I’ll make it.” I groan, needing to fixate on something other than my seizing muscles.

“Hurry, child.”

“Tell me I’ll make it,” I repeat.

“Only you can know that.”

“Is this why you never show yourself? Because you frustrate me and are worried that I’d slap you for your constant annoyance.”

“I would like to see you try.”

“I would too.” I laugh. The Stranger is taller than my towering Kaid, and though I’ve never seen him without his black cloak, I have no doubt he’s well-muscled. My starving skeleton would be no match for his power.

“But see how your irritation erases your other thoughts?”

He’s right. The more my body experiences aggravation, the less it notices the unbearable desire to let go and fall. “Tell me I’ll make it.”

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