Chapter 10
The wind picked up and blew black grit into their faces. The hike up the trail grew more difficult as it started to wind upwards. Laina was far more able than Jerlis, for whom months of enforced idleness and poor nutrition had begun to take their toll. As the day dragged on, Jerlis became more and more exhausted. Laina started to worry about him; she suspected the only reason he had held out this long was due to the magical enhancements of his new gear. Eventually he stopped talking, too worn out and tired to continue a conversation.
She walked directly behind him then, allowing him to set the pace and ready for if he should falter. She hoped the end of this pass was soon near, for it was clear that Jerlis was not going to be able to continue much longer. Yet it wasn't the exhaustion that proved to be the most danger. The only warning Laina had was a slight crunching sound, then the elf stumbled as the ground started to crumble away from underneath him. With a sharp cry, Jerlis fell forward, sliding down the new scree into the chasm.
Shouting in alarm, Laina forgot her fear of heights, forgot the danger. She threw herself on the ground, ignoring the painful jarring of her cuirass. Quick as a cat she leaned over the ledge and reached down after the elf, grasping. Her gauntlet caught cloth, and she held tight. She grunted as the full weight of her companion tugged at her arm, and heard him make a sharp exclamation of pain.
"Jerlis, can you grab my arm?" she asked.
The elf looked up at her, meeting her eyes. "It's the same shoulder that was out before. I think it's gone out again. I don't know if I can get my other arm there. I also don't know how long my sleeve will hold." Despite the obvious pain in his voice and the gravity of the situation, Jerlis sounded calm.
"I'm going to try to pull you up. Are there any handholds or anything that you can use to take some weight off the sleeve?"
"Nothing. When the path crumbled it fell inward. There is nothing to hold on to."
"We'll have to do this slowly then. I'm sorry, it will hurt." Laina said, and began to lift. The effort was enormous. Her own arm and shoulder ached with the strain, but she continued to lift. Muscle and joints creaked and she gritted her teeth. As soon as he was close enough she reached down with her other hand, and grabbed his wrist. "I've got you now. Hold on." The strain was now shared with both arms and a little easier. Gingerly, trying not to look at the deep chasm, she inched her entire body backwards, pulling Jerlis up bit by bit. Every now and then he would gasp quietly as the jarring motion caused him pain.
As soon as he was able, Jerlis reached with his good hand for the lip of the ledge. After that, pulling him up onto the ledge was simple and fast. Laina pulled him clear of the gap in the path. They both fell against the uphill side of the cliff, panting and gasping. After taking a few seconds to recover their breath, Laina spoke, "We need to get your shoulder back in its socket."
Jerlis winced and nodded.
"Need something to bite?"
"I think I can manage. Just get it done quickly." He said. She did, and he shouted in pain. They sat together for a few minutes longer.
"Thanks." He said after taking a few moments to recover.
"I think the socket is damaged, that sometimes happens after you displace a joint. You'll need to see a healer about it if—when we get back to civilization." She said. He nodded.
"We should get going. I know I'm slowing us down now, but I really think we're nearing the end of this path. We will be able to rest soon." Jerlis said. They got up, and surveyed the damage.
It wasn't good. The path ahead now had a two foot gap. A small portion of it remained, about a foot wide, skirting the edge of the uphill cliff. Laina didn't trust it, it looked crumbly. They would have to jump. She knew she could make it – a two foot leap would be child's play; but in Jerlis's exhausted and weakened state, he might not be able to.
"I'm going to jump across and carry you." She said.
"I think I can—,"
"No. You are exhausted, and I am not willing to take the risk. We've come this far, and I don't want to lose you."
He looked at her then, realizing what she had only just allowed herself to admit – that she was developing feelings for this elf, this member of the Horde, supposedly an enemy. She saw in his strange eyes an echo of her own feelings.
"Ok." He said.
They got up. She picked him up, he put an arm around her neck to support and stabilize himself. "I feel ridiculous," he said.
"Just hold on, and don't let me look down. This is going to suck." She said. She took a few steps back, then charged forward, leaping. The jump took less than a second, but to Laina it felt like an eternity. They landed on the opposite side of the gap, and she took several rapid, struggling steps forward as she both felt and heard the ground start to give. Feeling panicked, she tried to run, fighting the scree. After a few desperate, terrifying seconds, she realized she was walking on sound stone. She came to a stop, trying not to hyperventilate.
"Can you put me down now?" Jerlis asked, breaking her spell of fear. She nodded, not trusting her voice, and let him down. "Are you ok?" the mage asked, looking at her doubtfully.
"Yes. Let's just get out of here. Please." She gasped.
Fortunately for the exhausted travelers, the incident with the crumbling ledge turned out to be the worst the pass had to offer. Fueled by adrenaline from the near disaster, they made their way through the winding pass. As the sky was darkening yet again, they finally saw the cliffs part, opening into a cracked and jagged plain. It seemed that Jerlis was right, at some time some force had lifted a section of land, causing the cliffs to separate this plain and the one the demons' fortress had been built on.
Laina stared out at the bleak landscape, mind dulled from exhaustion and the effort of keeping her fear of heights at bay all through the long walk. Jerlis gazed about with similar energy. Then something on the horizon caught his eye, and he cursed.
"What is it?" Laina asked.
"Look!" the elf pointed. Off in the distance, a dust storm rose, like a black wall.
"A dust storm." Laina stated, not understanding the problem.
"The dust storms here can strip your flesh from your bones. It's coming this way. We have to find shelter. You might survive, in that plate, but I'm almost certainly dead when it reaches us." Jerlis spoke, his voice low and worried. Laina realized he was right. They began scanning the terrain for shelter of any kind. The pass wouldn't do – it would merely act as a wind tunnel, concentrating the fury of the storm even further.
Suddenly, a flash of blue caught the corner of Laina's eye. She stifled an exclamation, turning to look towards the source.
"What is it?" Jerlis asked, coming beside her.
"I saw something – oh!" Laina walked along the edge of the cliff to her left. She walked about thirty yards, and then stopped, bending down. In the dirt was a glint of gold and blue – how strange! It was a piece of jewelry, a bracelet, of beaten gold and a rough cut sapphire. She picked it up, looking at it curiously, as Jerlis approached.
"What's that you got—?" Jerlis started to ask as he leaned against the cliff, then cut off suddenly as he fell through the solid looking face of the cliff. Laina stared in aghast disbelief at the sight of her friend's waist and feet sticking out of the cliff wall, and the rest of him vanished. The feet kicked, then the mage sat up, his top half reappearing in the wall.
"What the fuck?" Laina squawked, bewildered.
"An illusionary wall! But what is an illusionary wall doing here?" Jerlis said, more too himself than to her. He got up, turned and face the wall, and spoke a few words in magic. "It's old, too. Perhaps thousands of years old. The magic is not demonic either… no, indeed it feels more like… Draenei? What's it hiding I wonder?" The mage strode through the cliff face. Laina stood outside, still holding the bracelet, wondering what the hell just happened. After a few minutes, she heard Jerlis's voice from beyond the "wall", unmuffled and clear. "I believe we've just found shelter. Come on in, Laina. I think we're safe here."