We'd been climbing for days. It's strange because when you're at the foot of a mountain, looking up, you have a vague idea of how many vertical miles it's rocky face carries on for. But when you begin your fruitless scale along with 4 others, it seems to tower endlessly, tauntingly above you. You even begin to wonder if it ends at all, or simply continues, stabbing a hole in the night's starred face, hopelessly reaching out to touch heaven.
On the fifth day it started raining. Heavily. Everyone slowed down, and allowed the elements to overtake them.
"If we carry on in this weather I don't know what's going to happen!" Celine was screaming over the pounding rain. Luck dealt us a card that night, and we found a scar in the rock face after 20 minutes of trudging through the torrential rain. It was a narrow squeeze of an entrance, but opened up into a wide, circular cave.
"If we stop we'll never reach the top Rena"
"It's too much Claude. We have to stop," she answered.
"We have to carry on! Don't you understand?"
"Well no maybe I don't, and maybe I am an idiot but at least I know when to stop. You'd have us keep going until we ran out of food!"
"IM JUST ASKING THAT WE CARRY ON FOR TONIGHT!" Their voices were beginning to grate me. Always bickering and fighting for leadership. On this occasion, Rena was right, and I had to step in.
"IF WE DON'T STOP WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE" I bellowed. Everyone's eyes widened at the sudden outburst. "VISIBILITY IS GETTING WORSE, AND UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE MAKING YOUR WAY TO THE TOP AS A GHOST, I SUGGEST YOU LISTEN TO RENA". I held Claude's gaze as I fell silent. He swore loudly, but turned and entered the cave none the less. Why is it that I always remind myself of a parent when I speak to him?
Everyone settled on the floor and discarded their sopping wet cloaks towards the fire that Celine had conjured. The cave seemed darker and damper still than the storm raging outside. They were all too afraid to look one another in the face, in case the others expression confirmed my threat. It's amazing how death can scare the bravest of men. You think you have your wits about you, but then you're faced with the unknown and you crumble, like a poorly carved statue. They kept to themselves, and were silent. However, I was staying close by the entrance, keeping watch. It would have been all too easy to go to sleep then and there, and risk having our throats slit in the night. The sound of the pounding rain was enough to keep me awake, reverberating off of every goddamn rock in that cave. It was enough to drive you insane, and I had the monster of all headaches.
Claude was sitting in the left-hand corner with his head in his hands. A droplet fell and hit the floor directly below his face, and to this day I'm still not quite sure whether it was his wet fringe, or if he was crying. Rena and Celine were by the fire, arms around each other in an attempt to keep warm. Good old predictable Bowman stood in the other corner, taking a lazy drag on his cigarette. That night, as the wind howled and the rain fell, time seemed to be standing idle, slowing down for us 5 travellers sheltered from the rain. I'll never forget that night…cold, dark and desperate as it was. The wind squeezed its way through the scar, and howled in our ears. It must have taken hours, but one by one they fell asleep. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, but I refused to succumb to sleep. I needed my eyes. But all I could see past the narrow gap was sheets and sheets of water falling. Blue, black, and grey droplets falling from a far away heaven, and smashing into this rocky structure. I wondered…maybe in hundreds, even thousands of years, would this mountain become a stump, like a tree that grew too tall for its roots? Despite the noise, and discomfort of the situation, it was a place where I was able to collect my thoughts. So much had been happening of late, that I had let the majority of it pass over the top of my head. I thought about Arlia, and the warm breeze that permanently ran through it during the summer, like an invisible force melting away your anxieties. I was so weary, so tired…
I woke with a start, unsheathing my sword in the blink of an eye and pointing it in the direction of the movement beside me.
"You've got to stop doing that," Rena whispered. To my horror my sword was positioned about an inch away from her throat.
"I'm sorry," I muttered, sheathing the immaculate, razor sharp metal. I peered through the scar. The sky was slightly lighter; an inky blue smudge on an infinite canvas…and it was still raining. She sat beside me on the hard ground, and leant her head on my shoulder.
"And are you enjoying your first class accommodation, Miss Lanford?" I peered down and was pleased to see she was smiling. If the others had been awake I'm sure they would have thought I'd gone mad due to lack of sleep or something. Dias Flac didn't crack jokes. She sighed.
"I hate this," Her voice was tainted by sadness.
"Don't worry, things are going to get better. I can't believe I fell asleep…"
"Yes, some watchman you are" she said, nudging my side. We listened to the rain for a while, each caught up in our own thoughts.
"Dias-," she whispered almost inaudibly, "you don't really thing we are going to die up here…do you?" her eyes were shining with tears and I felt my heart sink.
"No," I paused, "It isn't our destiny"
"Then what is?" those were the last words she spoke before falling asleep.
"I wish I could tell you" I replied.
Someone kept shaking me. Eventually it got so annoying it forced me to get up and have to shield my eyes from the bright sunlight.
"Come outside," said the familiar voice of Rena. I frowned at the possibility of another day of walking and climbing… then I made a bet with myself that it was still raining, to top it all off. However, as I stepped outside, I gasped.
We were all standing on a thin ledge, and were maybe half a day's climb from the top of the mountain. But what shocked me the most was how high up we were. The morning clouds were beneath us, but seemingly directly in front of us stood the rising sun. It shone amber, gold, and platinum all at once. We were level with the sun…like Tria the god of all creation. It was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen, and as I placed my hand on Rena's shoulder, I realised…This was our destiny, to ensure that everyday the sun would rise on Expel, and that our days would be filled with light. It was our destiny to save this planet, so that we ourselves, alongside every inhabitant of our world could wake up to a new day. I'm not sure how long we stood there for, perhaps an hour, but we had all come to the same realisation, and set out for the summit with a new hope rising in our hearts. I don't generally enjoy sunrises, but that one was definitely worth losing sleep over.
So that was the first chapter, what did you think? It was supposed to be from Dias' point of view, and I plan to write a set from numerous peoples points of view. I couldn't remember the name of the stupid mountain from the first disc either...eurgh. Please review if you liked it, or hated it!